Slayers - Universe
by Jeniam
Summary: A new story taking place after Quest.
1. Befuddlement - A New World

  
Now that quest is done I've sarted this little story. This is sort of a crossover, there are alot of simularities between the two programs so I personally don't consider it a crossover but ot each his/her own. It is definitely an alternate universe fic because I've had them enter the Lost Universe world before things have started to heat up. Milly hasn't been dumped yet ect. Have fun readong this, I'm trying to get episode synopis of Lost Universe up on my web page but it will take a while before they are complete.  
  
Slayers Universe  
Chapter One  
Befudlement - a new world  
  
Travelling through the void, Lina felt like screaming at herself. Why did she agree to this foolishness? With Xellos of all people, sure she kissed him once but why did she do it? Why did he do it? Why did she let herself get involved in the schemes of Gods? Stupidity, it must be, there was no other reason she could think of. Well maybe the thought of a new adventure, new lands to explore, new bandits to blow up...Lina told herself to get a grip, wasn't this going to end. At least Zel was cured, she hoped he didn't think she was forced into this for his cure, her mind darted to thoughts of her friends, is this going to end soon.  
  
Suddenly she felt the breath sucked out of her body As she tried to scream Xellos shouted out a spell and she found herself enclosed in a bubble of air with him. He eyes widened as she took in the sights around her.  
  
"Lina, I don't think we're in Sayruin any longer." Xellos observed with muted tones as he stared at the large silver apparition in front of him.  
  
"I think you're right." Lina answered, as she looked down at the stars under her feet. "Okay now what do we do, I don't see any land here. You know Xellos" Lina continued in an even voice, "I really want to freak out here, you do know that don't you."  
  
"I can sympathise, we are out of the influence of the planets within the ether between stars. That silver thing seems to be a transportation method. Should I knock on the door politely or should I just transport us inside I can see in that window thing." Xellos asked.  
  
"I want to be out of this now, Xellos. I need an up and down, I want a floor now! I want walls now! " Lina yelled furiously.   
  
Xellos noted with interest that her face had turned a delicate shade of green. "Are you sure Lina dear? I'm starting to enjoy this."   
  
"I'm sure you stupid fruitcake. Are you trying to Gourry's place for stupidity?" A fireball started forming in her hand.  
  
"Okay lets go." Xellos told her snickering. "Really Lina, you should learn to control that temper."  
  
After transporting they found themselves in a corridor made of the same silver metal that formed the outside of the thing. Lina looked carefully at the doors, the same metal, she tried a small unlock spell but she found the metal didn't react, sort of like orhelcon. Closing her eyes she could feel magical energy around her but it was different, Lina narrowed her focus. There. She smiled at Xellos.  
  
"This thing is powered by magic, I can feel it flowing in very narrow streams. The control they have over the magic here is something else, I can't feel any leakage at all." She told him.  
  
Xellos closed his eyes and checked, "You're right but it's not just magic there's something else powering this...whatever. The magic is providing the direction, the other energy is making it move."  
  
"I see what you mean. "Lina nodded.  
  
"Damn" she jumped in the door way as she heard the sound of someone running towards them. Xellos followed suit.  
  
"Be careful of the spells remember there's nothing outside." Xellos reminded Lina.  
  
"Right." Lina took out her sword feeling the warmth it always projected to her when she drew it.  
  
The sound of running stopped as a red haired youth skidded to a stop in front of them and drew a familiar looking sword.  
  
Lina's eyes gleamed and she put on her cutest expression.   
  
"Oh no." Xellos groaned knowing what was coming. The stranger began to have a confused look on his face.  
  
"The Sword of Light will you give it to me please, I'll give you 20 gold for it please, please."  
  
The newcomer backed up a step, "Listen kid, I don't know what you're doing in my ship but there's no way I'm giving you my psyblade. You couldn't use it anyway. I want some explanations and I want them now. How did you get in here?"  
  
"Kid! Can't use the sword of light! I won't take that from a third rate mage... Darkness beyond twilight..."  
  
"Lina stop remember outside." Xellos pleaded in vain as Lina finished her spell.  
  
The red-haired youth stared at her as she finished chanting and yelled "DRAGON SLAVE."  
  
"Ookay was that supposed to do something?" he asked quizzically  
  
Lina looked at her hand dumbfounded,  
  
"Oh right Lina. I forgot. Chaos magic and non specific spells only. Until you do some research on the Monster Lords in this world black magic won't work. I'd also imagine that most of the shaministic magics won't work either unless you're on a planet." Xellos put a hand behind his head as he laughed sheepishly.  
  
"Just give me a second I want to figure out a way to blast that second rate mage in a bad cape... Oh forget it" Lina jumped forward with her sword in hand.  
  
"Bad cape, I'll have you know that this cape is the epitome of good fashion." The youth jumped forward with his sword of light in his hand.  
  
"Stop it you two right now." a girl with long blue braids materialised between Lina and the young man.  
  
"A monster!" Lina shouted. Xellos moved forward and took an attack position beside Lina.  
  
"A what? I'll have you know that I'm a perfectly respectable ship's AI and I want to know how you showed up out of nowhere on my ship's scanners." The blue-haired girl took a deep breath. "No, let's calm down and go and sit in the rec area. Explanations can wait until then, agreed." she looked at Lina and Xellos.  
  
"She's not a monster Lina." Xellos told Lina. "Him, I can feel, He's angry, confused and a bit scared. It's as if she's not even there."  
  
"I'm not scared" the red haired man blustered.  
  
"Of course you're not." Xellos answered agreeably with a smirk.  
  
"Right, just so you know. Kaine Blueriver ain't scared of nothing."  
  
"Okay, we'll go along with this for now." Lina agreed, "but any funny stuff and you'll regret it. Lead the way"  
  
After settling down in the rec centre, Lina looked at the pair, trying to keep her calm was even more difficult than usual. Xellos tried to keep from snickering as Lina and Kane glared at each other, "It must be the red hair" he told himself.  
  
"Hello my dear, let me introduce us. I am Xellos Metallium and this is Lina Inverse. We are not from around here." Xellos told the girl.  
  
The girl smiled at him, "It is nice to see some manners for once, My name is Canal Vorfeed and I am the ships artificial intelligence. That lout is Kane Blueriver and he is my pilot. We are on the swordbreaker. Now I'd like to ask you how you came to be here"  
  
"Damn stowaways." Kane grumbled.  
  
"I can move the washroom again." Canal told him and smiled again as Kane stopped grumbling. "Now they didn't stow away, I ran the diagnostic program and checked all my files. There was a blip out side of the ship and then they just appeared in the corridor. I'd like to know how they did that. I also sense an enormous amount of psi energy from them, even more than you Kane."  
  
Kane's eyes widened, then narrowed. "Doesn't make her any less obnoxious."  
  
"Lina is known as the enemy of all that lives back home" Xellos added helpfully.  
  
Lina looked at him angrily, "Listen fruitcake, I'd appreciate it if you waited for supper. Or else I will figure out how to cast a dragon slave in this world. Or I may just go for broke, I'm sure a giga slave will work fine."  
  
"Sorry Lina, after a few thousand years the habit is pretty hard to break." Xellos told her in a embarrassed tone.  
  
"Okay to get back on track, what do you mean by the dragonslave and gigaslave?" Canal asked.  
  
"Oh that's easy. Magic spells, the dragon slave is the strongest spell in black magic. The giga slave calls on the power of the Mother of All." Lina answered.  
  
"You can do magic." Kane asked sarcastically.  
  
"I am Lina Inverse, the beautiful sorcery genius, of course I can do magic."   
  
Xellos became alarmed as Lina's eyes started to show flames. He shot a quick glance at Canal who intervened.  
  
"Kane I think what they refer to as magic we refer to as psi energy. According to my files that is how people once referred to psi energy. If the reading I am getting are correct she is very strong stronger than any recordings on file. Her friend there has a very good barrier but from what my sensors pick up he is quite possibly as strong as she is."  
  
Canal looked at them with a wicked smile and thought of the firepower she would have if she could convince them to hook up with her weapons systems.   
  
"The question is how did you two get here?" Kane interjected before Canal could act on the familiar gleam in her eyes.  
  
"Now that." Xellos answered, "Is a secret."  
  
"Xellos." Lina warned.  
  
"Take all the fun out of my life will you, Lina-dear." Xellos smiled. "We used a small dimensions warp to get inside the ship from outside. A larger more complex one using both our energies to get from our world to where we were. Quite simple really when you know how."  
  
"You mean you formed a dimensional warp using psi energy." Kane asked disbelieving tone.  
  
"psi energy, magic whatever you want to call it but yes." Lina confirmed.  
  
Lina looked at Canal who had found a data terminal and was typing furiously into it. "Um Kane, what's she doing?"  
  
Kane just shrugged, "She'll be done in a second."  
  
"Yes, it is possible given the power you two give off and if you're only transporting yourselves there should be power to spare. I don't know how much power it takes to go between worlds though, theoretically more than you have. I wonder what you two could do given amplifiers."  
  
"She's going to be doing that for a while, why don't we get something to eat. We're meeting Milly at port so the food won't be great..." Kane stopped as Lina grabbed his arm.  
  
"Food where, let's go. We'll talk later." Lina demanded.  
  
Xellos shook his head as he followed the two red heads. Lina wouldn't be fit to talk to until she was full. He hoped that this "ship" had plenty of food stored.   
  
  
  
  
  



	2. Illumination - Getting the Story Straigh...

Chapter two  
Illumination  
Getting the story straight  
  
Okay here's chapter 2. The draft of chapter 3 should be up on my webpage some time tomorrow night. I just would like anyone who drops in to answer the poll, I really don't know what the level of Lost Universe knowledge is out there as it's really just starting to catch on. Either that or just let me know in the reviews section, it really matters in how I handle the story.  
  
  
  
Kain's eyes boggled as he watched Lina eat. She probably could even put away one of Milly's spreads without blinking. Her companion was more self-restrained, taking only a cup of tea and relaxing in a chair. Who were these people? He had a feeling that they were related to the burgeoning problems with Nightmare, but would they be a help or a hindrance? Rail had just gone missing and both Canal and himself were unsure of what that meant in the scheme of things. The Lost Ship Nezard had attacked them once and Canal was scared. She kept on asking for more powerful weapons systems as a back up to what they had. From the gleam in her eyes, she had already thought of a few ways she could use these newcomers to power up her weapons systems. Damn, all this thinking was hurting his brain.  
  
"Well, Lina, do you think the Mother planned for us to be here?" Xellos asked Lina.  
  
"I think so," Lina answered, touching her sword meaningfully. "Do you feel anything different?" Kain's eyes narrowed as he watched the exchange.   
  
"No, just a feeling of waiting. I feel no evil here," Xellos answered.  
  
"What do you mean by evil?" Kain interjected.  
  
"Monsters, of course," Xellos answered smirking. "Now, tell me about Canal and why she feels like a dragon."  
  
Lina nodded. "That's what was so familiar about the ship; it feels like dragon magic."  
  
Kain looked at the pair as if they had gone crazy. "Canal is an artificial intelligence. A made person."  
  
"Who made her?" Lina asked pointedly.  
  
"No one knows who made the lost ships, but Canal is part of the computer that runs the ship. She's a person but a computerized one," Kain answered.  
  
"Oookay. Now what is a computer?" Lina asked.  
  
Kain's eyes boggled, these people were really strange. "A computer, you don't know what a computer is? From what backwater are you from..." he trailed off as he saw Lina's eyes begin to glow. "A computer is a machine that thinks."   
  
As he took another breath to explain further, he noticed Xellos and Lina nod their heads in understanding. "Wasn't the sorcerers' guild working on something like that near Sairag, a thinking golem or some such, Lina?"  
  
"Yeah, they had control problems, though; the Golems kept leaving because they found the sorcerers too stupid to endure," Lina answered.  
  
"Not surprising," Canal interjected, materializing in front of them. "I really don't know how I can put up with this lunkhead most of the time." She glanced at Kain fondly. "Do you mind telling me your reasons for being here? I can tell from Xellos' physical makeup that you're definitely not from this dimension. I've been around for a while so I probably can help you figure out what you need to know."  
  
Lina looked at Xellos and nodded. "I'll tell them, you'd just lead them on a merry chase and then tell them that it was all a secret."  
  
"Lina-dear, would I do that?" Xellos laughed.  
  
"Of course, you've done it to me too many times and I don't think you've reformed that part of you, Mr. Trickster Priest."  
  
Xellos just laughed and motioned for Lina to continue. They all settled in while Lina explained what had happened to them leaving out most of Xellos' history.  
  
At the end of the story, Canal was nodding her head in understanding, especially after she had Lina expand on the story of Darkstar.  
  
"I can give you some information. This is the world of Darkstar. He must have tried to enter your world after he fought with Kain's grandmother and I. He lied about having joined with Vorfeed. I don't know who those men were fighting him." Canal sighed. "The problem is that while Darkstar was weakened he wasn't killed. He's another Lost Ship and he is just now beginning to move. Kain and I are the only ones opposing him and the other lost ships."  
  
Lina looked at Canal and smiled. "No you're not, you have the mighty and beautiful sorceress, Lina Inverse, to help you, along with her side kick Xellos."  
  
"Umm, Lina, when did I get demoted to sidekick? Strength wise I think you should be the sidekick."  
  
After Lina finished pounding Xellos into submission, she looked over to the two who were watching her antics with big sweatdrops forming on their heads. "Now that I've fed Xellos, tell me about the other lost ships. What are their goals?"  
  
"To cause pain and suffering and feed off of it," Kain answered bitterly.  
  
"Monsters," Lina shouted. "I want as much detail as possible on each one, what is their hierarchy and individual areas of expertise. How do they relate to those around them?"  
  
Canal eyes widened at the barrage of questions. She took a deep breath and tried to answer them all. "Darkstar is the most powerful of the lost ships. I was made specifically to battle him. I'll give you a printout of all their attack capabilities later, but each of the lost ships, myself included, use the energy of humans to power our attacks. Anger tends to bring out the stronger psi energy; the other lost ships enjoy pain and the negative emotions as well. To them, humans are so much fodder for the taking. They will destroy entire worlds just to feed on the pain that is caused. Besides Darkstar, there is Nezard, Lagudo Mezigisu and Golun Nova."  
  
Lina looked confused for a second. "Golun Nova is the sword of light. The analogues are not perfect."  
  
"Lina-dear," Xellos added patting her hand. "Remember that we were going on myths handed down through generations from glimpses through the dimensional barrier. Many of those myths came from the half-baked ranting of seers. We can't expect all of them to be correct."  
  
"I know," she answered, then looked at Kain. "Can I see your sword? I will give it back, unless of course, you decide to give it to me."  
  
Kain looked at Lina suspiciously as he handed over his sword. "I want it back," he stated firmly, seeing the avaricious gleam in her eyes.  
  
Lina looked over the sword carefully and surprised Kain as the sword responded to her direction and flared easily to her "Light come forth." He smirked, as he never had to talk to it to get it to work; his smile soon died, as the blade grew longer and glowed brighter than when he used it.  
  
Lina extinguished the sword and handed it back. "It is similar but that isn't the sword Gourry had," she told the others. "I was sure that the sword of light returned to the same world as Darkstar."  
  
"There is one other psi blade," Canal said. "Dark Seeder is the master of it. I haven't seen them since the fight with Darkstar."  
  
"The big question is where is Vorfeed in all of this if Darkstar didn't destroy him?" Lina asked, puzzled as Canal blushed and Kain looked embarrassed.  
  
  
"Vorfeed would be me," Canal offered as the silence drug on.  
"You are Vorfeed!" Xellos exclaimed shocked out of his usual complacency. "Lina, I told you I could feel a dragon here."  
  
Lina just nodded her head. "It does make sense. If the bad ships were monsters, then the good ship must be a dragon of some sort. Four against one, though, I can see why the Mother sent us here, this is really out of balance. If nothing is done this world will be lost completely."  
  
"Now, where do we go from here? I know I have to familiarize myself with the magic here. I'll have to familiarize myself with how this psi energy thing works here. Xellos, why don't you check out the astral plane and see what differences there are there?"  
  
Xellos nodded. "Your wish is my command, Lina-dear. Maybe I can capture a lesser monster and get some information from it. There are lesser monsters here, aren't there, Canal?"  
  
Canal shook her head. "Not really as such, there are humans who work closely with the lost ships but the ships would realize it if you took them. Once we're in port there are employees that can give you information on Gaza Corp., which is the cover for Nightmare, Darkstar's organization."  
  
"How long before we're in port?" Xellos asked.  
  
"Two days," Kain replied.  
  
"Okay, then. Let's get going," Lina stated as she jumped up.  
  
  
  
  



	3. Darkness - Life in the Shadows

This fic is going fast than I thought. I'm currently writing chapter six and I may be able to get seven done soon. From my website poll it seems that there are quite a few readers that are not familiar with Lost Universe. I do have a character gallery and a partial episode synopsis to help those of you that have been LU deprived ^_^ and I am trying not to make any assumptions about back ground knowledge. If there are any questions though feel free to ask either by emailing me or putting them in the reviews column, I'll stick the info in the next comments bit. Any way have fun with this the next chapter should be up soon.   
  
Darkness  
Life in the Shadows  
  
After more discussion, Lina decided that she should get some rest before starting her research.  
  
"Hey, Canal, where do you sleep around here?" Lina asked.  
  
"I have one guest room ready. It'll take a bit before I have a second one ready."  
  
"Don't worry, Xellos isn't going to be needing any sleep. He can just store his stuff in my room," Lina answered cheerfully, not noticing the deep blush painting Kain's cheeks at her comments. "Come on, Xel. There are a few things in that book we haven't tried yet." Lina and Xel then followed Canal to their room after casting a curious look at the squirming Kain.   
  
Thanking Canal, Lina took a look around the room and flopped down on the bed, projecting a need for privacy at Xellos. He smiled and closed his eyes. After a moment he nodded and looked at Lina. "They shouldn't be able to listen in now with their gadgets. Now, what is your opinion of these people? I really don't want to take off to the astral plane and leave you here by yourself if you do not feel comfortable."  
  
"I like them, cape boy seems a little repressed, but not as bad as Zel was when we met him. Canal is okay but I have a feeling that I don't want to see her if she gets stubborn about something." Lina scratched her head. "All in all, I think they'll be good questing partners. I'm curious about the third member of their party; her name was Milly right? She's still an unknown. What did you pick up besides a good meal back there?"  
  
Xellos snickered. "No real sense of hostility from any of them. That Kain though, repressed is not the word. If you could have felt... well never mind it's not important, let me just say that Zelgadis has nothing on him. The embarrassment of us sharing a room was enough in itself for a good meal."  
  
Lina blushed. "They don't know that you don't sleep, do they?"  
  
"Well, I don't think he thought we were going to the room to sleep," Xellos answered.  
  
"Oh, you know we do have to talk about our relationship." Lina looked down at her fingers as she started twisting them together.  
  
"It's pretty simple Lina-dear. I love you," Xellos answered directly for once.  
  
"Do you?" Lina answered, becoming even more absorbed in her fingers. "I don't know. I think you need me, and in a way you may love me, but whom else are you going to latch on to? We spent some pretty intense time together when your emotions were awakened. You haven't experienced enough yet to truly know if what you feel for me is imprinting, gratitude or just a fear of being alone."  
  
"I don't agree with you, Lina. I know what I feel." Xellos stretched out a finger and stroked Lina's cheek gently.  
  
"Emotions are still new to you, you haven't run though the gamut of crushes and infatuations most people go through. I really don't think you should dive right into this. We're going to be together too long for us to start off with a mistaken romance and ruin our friendship." Lina looked away from Xellos. "We have a lot to do here. I'd like to see you take a very quick peek at the astral plane and let me know what you see. No roaming around, look and leave, you got it?"  
  
Xellos sighed, it wasn't the first time he had had this talk with Lina and he was sure it wasn't going to be the last. It would be more difficult, in a way, if he couldn't feel that she cared for him as well, but the knowledge made it difficult to hold back and wait for her to work through things on her own.  
  
In the control room, Canal was fussing at the monitors.  
  
"What is the matter with you?" Kain asked.  
  
"They shut me out! I lost all surveillance capabilities in their section of the ship," she fumed, tossing her braids behind her. "Oh, I just got my sensors back. What is going on? Xellos is gone. Lina is showing signs of sleeping, but Xellos is gone. He must have decided to go to the 'astral plane', wherever that is. They are going to hear from me about this, just you wait and see."  
  
"Umm, Canal, are you planning on telling them off because they didn't let you eavesdrop on their private conversations?" Kain asked in an innocent tone of voice.  
  
"You bet I'm going to.. tell... them... oh right," Canal trailed off laughing in a chagrined manner. "Well that's that then. Kain, what do you think of them? Gut feelings now."  
  
Kain thought for a second. "I don't know. That Xellos guy seems harmless, that girl though is pretty scary. What an attitude."  
  
"Talk about the pot calling the kettle black," Canal mumbled.  
  
"What's that?" Kain asked.  
  
"Just talking to myself, continue with your thoughts Kain."  
  
"I just wonder what the real story is. We're in a losing battle and poof help shows up. It is a bit convenient, isn't it? And this talk about monsters and dragons is straight out of a fairy tale."   
  
Canal looked at Kain. "Actually, the monsters and dragons bit is the easiest for me to believe, looking at the files I have on dimensional analogues and conversations I had with your grandmother, it fits it. It is Xellos that bothers me; there is a taint to him of old evil. That taint is absent, by the way, in Lina. He also isn't present in this world, not completely. There is a distortion to the fabric of space around him that makes me think that he properly belongs in another realm. Actually the closest match I've ever seen to him is Dark Seeder, though not a perfect match."  
  
"We're going to have to talk to them about that then, whenever Xellos comes back from where ever he went to."  
  
"I wonder how Milly is going to react. Ego facing ego is not going to be pleasant for the rest of us."  
  
Canal snickered, "We should have an ego competition, followed by a cape competition. Didn't Lina say yours was a bit plain?"  
  
Kain gave Canal a dirty look and stomped off to bed.  
  
Xellos, on the other hand, was having the time of his life. The astral plane was so nice and quiet without the minor monsters running around, he decided that he'd take a little walk around the place. It had been a while since he had been able to stretch out in his astral form and it felt good. Sending out a few smaller cones as a protective barrier, he relaxed. As much as he enjoyed the mortal world, there was something to be said about lounging around in his natural state.  
  
Glancing to the side of him he saw a patch of darkness; curious, he drifted over to it. Suddenly, what looked to be a blond haired human appeared in front of him. The man bore a surprising resemblance to Gourry - tall, long hair, and a swordsman's stance. Seeing the sword that the man had drawn, Xellos prepared for a challenge; this must be the second sword of light that Canal had mentioned which made this man an enemy, not a friend.  
  
"Who are you?" the blond man asked as he waved his sword threateningly.  
  
"Now, now don't get yourself in an uproar. I was just doing a bit of sightseeing,"  
Xellos answered, trying to unobtrusively prepare more cones.  
  
"Who are you?" the man repeated. "And what are you doing in my domain?"  
  
Xellos looked at him closely, the blonde had a lot of power and Xellos was unprepared for battle at the moment. Taking a deep breath he decided the fight could keep until later.  
  
"I am what you see, a simple priest." Xellos smiled. "As for the rest..."  
  
"Yes, explain yourself," the other man demanded.  
  
"Well you see, that is..." Xellos paused dramatically, "a secret."  
  
Xellos then disappeared from the astral plane, leaving the other man blustering in anger. He smiled gleefully, he still had it. "You know, Xellos my lad, that is just as much fun to do on the bad guys as it was to do on the good guys."  



	4. Swordbreaker - The First Skirmish

Hi, This is still rolling off my fingers. I'm starting to move along into the good stuff now. If MonMon is still out there I've stuck in some mush for you. ^_^; Any way enjoy. Again I realise that many of you haven't seen LU yet, but if you enjoyed Slayers you really should. It's been nicknamed "Slayers in Space" for a reason. Its fun just picking up the common elements between the two. (I've got to get out more O.o)  
  
Swordbreaker  
The first Skirmish  
  
"Lina, Lina dear, wake-up..." Xellos tickled the end of Lina's nose gently and smiled as she drowsily pushed his hand away and turned over again. Luxuriating in the sleepy emotions that she was putting out, he smiled and tickled her nose again, soliciting another grumble. Giving into temptation, he leaned over and pressed his lips to hers. She moaned and deepened the kiss, eyes still closed, then suddenly her eyes shot open and she pushed him away furiously.  
  
"Xellos, we talked about this," Lina shouted furiously.  
  
"No, Lina dearest. You talked, I listened. I don't remember agreeing. I know how I feel; I've been tasting human emotions long enough to recognise infatuation and lust, this is not either of those."  
  
"I'll back off for now, my dear, but don't expect me to give up on you. I can be patient but I much prefer to move things along." Xellos winked at her saucily. "I am irresistible you know."  
  
Lina bit back a chuckle and set her face into severe lines. "Enough nonsense, tell me about the astral plane."  
  
"Pretty empty. There was a Gourry look-a-like up there though, complete with a sword of light. I figure it was the one Canal mentioned; we'll have to ask her more about him." Xellos then added, "I think there's quite a few questions she has for us now too. I shut off the surveillance again when I got back, I can't feel her but he's started radiating a lot of frustration and concern when I shut down the system."  
  
"Do you think she'll confront us?" Lina asked.  
  
"Naw, then she'll have to admit she was trying to listen in on our private conversations. She doesn't know that we'd do the same thing in her shoes." Xellos laughed. "The pure of heart are never completely so. They do like the appearance of goodness though. I always used to get the best meals from the town martyrs."  
  
"Xellos." Lina smiled. "You are the most cynical person I know."  
  
"I try my best, now let's go and talk to Canal and Kain before she blows a fuse or he loses the battle in trying to calm her down."  
  
"And most importantly, it's time to eat," Lina exclaimed as she rushed out the door.  
  
"Of course, how could I forget?" Xellos muttered as he followed her out the door.  
  
"Just what..." Canal started to say angrily as they entered the control room.  
  
"Is there a problem?" Xellos asked, an angelic expression on his face.  
  
"Cut it out, Xellos," Lina warned in a quiet voice. "Quit baiting her. Remember there's no meal to be had."  
  
"Right, Lina, but it's so much fun."   
  
Kain looked at Lina and Xellos sharply, he couldn't understand what they were saying but he was beginning to realize that Xellos was not as harmless as he thought. There was a dangerous edge to him that Lina seemed to blunt.  
  
"Canal was just a bit upset because, because Milly isn't here to cook for you." Canal shot a look at Kain as he tried to soothe feelings. "Milly is the Greatest Cook in the Universe and Canal felt that her guests deserved the best."  
  
"And who's going to pay for the new kitchen?" Canal wondered.  
  
Realising that he had said the wrong thing again, Kain opted to go in another direction. "How did you two sleep?" Kain flushed a deep red as he realised what he said.  
  
Lina looked at him and, as she realised what conclusions Kain had come to about the lack of monitor surveillance, flushed as well. Xellos took pity on the two, as fun as this was, they had questions to ask.  
  
"I assume Lina slept well, as I don't need sleep, I took a quick trip to the astral plane to have a little look. I think I met an old acquaintance of yours there, Canal."  
  
"Acquaintance of mine?" asked Canal.  
  
"Long blond hair, well built, bearing a blade very similar to your friend there." Xellos gave his trademark smirk. "Sound familiar?"   
  
"Dark Seeder," Canal growled. "Alice would still be piloting if it wasn't for him. That means your astral plane is the psychic realm, which means you are not what you seem."  
  
"Now, now. I've never said what I was, and what I was is not what I am," Xellos answered happily.  
  
"And just what are you?" Canal asked angrily. "I feel old evil on you, tainting you."  
  
"Now that is a....Oww, Lina." Xellos looked at Lina who was returning Filia's mace to hammerspace.  
  
"Filia gives me such useful presents." Lina smiled. "What is Xellos? He is a reformed monster. He used to be much like your Dark Seeder but someone offered him more power and gave him a conscience to go with it. I still think it was one of Melee's better practical jokes."  
  
Xellos gave Lina a dark look. "Tell me about this Dark Seeder, from what I felt he would be the equivalent of a monster lord back home."  
  
"It's a bit complicated. There isn't really that much known about Dark Seeder, except that he was made so that Darkstar could be reborn into his body. He was piloting Darkstar when we fought. Alice had to give all her psychic energy to win that battle and it still wasn't enough to completely destroy him. I had thought that Dark Seeder was dead or part of Darkstar, but if you saw him in the psychic realm, then he must be amassing power to fight us again. This is worse than I thought, Kain," Canal babbled.  
  
Kain nodded. "That brings us to another question, Milly. This isn't her fight; should we still go get her?"  
  
"I don't know, Kain. It's your decision, but I think she'd be pretty hurt if we didn't get her, she wouldn't understand why we did it," Canal responded.  
  
"Listen, if Darkstar isn't defeated, everyone will die anyway. Do you think your friend wants to die quivering in a corner or doing her best to win? From what you've said about her, I'd think she'd want to fight and the bottom line is that it's her decision to make." Lina looked at Kain sharply. "I made that mistake once; luckily, my friends backed me up anyway. The final result is that we all made it through instead of all dying. Trust in your friend to be as willing as you to fight for what is right or else you're doing her a great disservice."  
  
"And now we've heard today's edition of 'Listen to Lina' folks," Xellos quipped, jumping out of the way before Lina could land a blow with her mace. "I'm really starting to miss Gourry," Xellos complained. "He used to get half of these hits."  
  
In spite of herself, Lina smiled. Looking at Kain she asked, "Well, are we still getting your friend?"  
  
When Kain nodded in agreement, she turned to Canal "Now, where is the food? I'm hungry."  
  
After Lina polished off another huge meal, she sat down with Canal to go over the specs of the other dark ships. After much clarification, she found herself completely confused.  
  
"My black magic is basically useless here," Lina told Xellos when he asked them how things were going. "Basically, I can't use spells against those I'm trying to hurt just as I couldn't use the dragon slave against Shabrinigdo. Canal and I think we've found a way to incorporate the chaos magic into her psy systems, though; we'll try it out later."  
  
"Any idea about how to incorporate monster powers in there?" Xellos asked.   
  
"Not really, but they attack through the astral plane as well; they can get to Kain or Canal that way and, from what I can understand, me as well. It's not quite the same as back home, just close enough for our assumptions to kill us," Lina answered.  
  
Canal suddenly straightened up. "Kain, my sensors are picking something up in the K sector."  
  
A chair suddenly came out of the floor. "Sorry Lina, you'll have to sit this one out; I don't have the ship configured for two psy sources yet and I don't have time to show you the guns."  
  
"Canal, prepare the Plasma Blast!" Kain shouted. "It's a lost ship."   
  
"Roger! Extending Boost Chips," Canal answered briskly. "That's Nezard."  
  
Xellos and Lina watched with fascination as six round chips flew out and took a circular position in front of the ship.  
  
"Extending complete. Proceeding to connect system. Connect complete. Readings normal. All systems check normal." Lina tried to edge up to Kain to watch the rods that had extended from the chair on each side of Kain's head, but backed away as he waved her towards a seat. The flow of magic was remarkably concentrated.  
  
"Boost Chips, begin activation sequence," Kain shouted.  
  
Lina caught her breath in wonder as lights emerged from the chips to form a pentagram. She was able to notice that even Xellos' mouth was hanging open.   
  
"Attempt destruction of enemy barrier with Psy-Energy. Target locked. Begin Psy-Barrier conversion. Psy-Barrier conversion complete. Release Boost Valve. Prepare for Plasma Blast safety release. Safety released. Increasing energy. Countdown 3 process to start... Process 2... Last Process. All processing complete. You may fire at will!" As Canal finished talking, a beam of gold light shot from the front of the ship, hitting the other ship.  
  
"Damn, some damage to the port but it won't affect their battle capability," Canal informed them. "We're going to have to make a run for it."  
  
Lina looked at Xellos, then Canal, and smiled. "Do you think you're going to keep us out of the fun? I've been missing bandits lately and I've been wanting to try out my new and improved giga slave. Do you think you can help a poor damsel out?"  
  
Xellos grinned back in understanding. "For you, my dear Lina, anything. I seem to remember I still owe you one bandit hide out, will this do as a substitute until we go home?"  
  
Canal and Kain watched them quizzically and then gasped as Xellos grabbed Lina and disappeared, only to reappear floating in space in the middle of Canal's pentagram.  
  
"That's impossible," Kain gasped and watched while Lina gestured, as a glow formed between Lina's hands, he saw that she was holding a sword in her hands. A bright light shot from the sword and he saw Nezard buckle as it took the blow. The other ship was damaged but still able to move and move it did as it ran away from the battle and warped to another part of space.  
  
The two reappeared in the control room and Kain was gratified to see that Lina at least looked tired.  
  
"That was fun." Lina grinned. "I really wonder what we can do with that amplifier system that Canal has. Just one thing though."  
  
"What is that, Lina?" Canal asked carefully, deciding that she was going to be very respectful to the sorceress.   
  
"I'm hungry! Where's some food?"  
  
  
  
  
  



	5. Disturbances -Lina's in Jail

  
Okay here's chapter five I still going on it. I'm wondering how many people are going Hunh though. Come on, if this Greek or does any one understand what's going on. Some feed back please ^_^. I don't need much I just want to know if the LU references are too cryptic.  
  
Chapter 5  
  
Disturbances -  
Lina's in Jail   
  
"You know, I really hope Milly stocked up well on the food purchases. Lina could well turn out to be more expensive to feed than those new missiles you wanted," Kain observed.  
  
Canal just smiled in response. In her opinion, Lina was more destructive than missiles and she could be reused too. If she would just stop shutting off Canal's sensors when she went to her room. That Xellos still bothered her. They hadn't been able to hook him up to the ship; there was something about him that refused even that amount of assimilation. Xellos, of course, seemed unconcerned. Was there anything that could wipe that smile off his face? Even when Lina beat him into a pancake, there was that smile. Frustrating. He had just told her he would go outside of the ship to fight as he had done with Lina; then he had winked and told her that she wouldn't be disappointed in his performance if he was needed but he wouldn't take away from Lina's fun.  
  
Lina's fun, well she did seem to enjoy the fighting but the way Xellos had made that comment made it sound as if he was as strong as Lina, if not stronger. Canal decided he was pulling her leg and resigned herself to having him protect the psychic realm; if he could block even a portion of the psychic attacks, it would be helpful.   
  
"Canal, how far are we away from port now?" Kain asked anxiously.  
  
"2 minutes 45 seconds until I ask for docking privileges," Canal answered. "Missing Milly are you?" she added impishly.  
  
"That's not it," Kain grumbled. "Will you give Neena a ring and see if there is any news about Rail?"  
  
"Just a second. Hi Neena," chirped Canal as a young girl's face appeared on screen. "What's the latest news on Rail?"  
  
Neena's long brown hair bobbed as her shoulders hunched and her chin lowered as she took a deep breath. "I was just questioned by the Universal Guardian Council. They think Rail is a spy; they said that he stole a lost ship, but my Lt. Rail would never do anything like that, he wouldn't."  
  
"Calm down, Neena," Canal told Neena. "I'm sure it's all a mistake and will be cleared up soon. Did he leave any clues to where he was going?"  
  
"Nothing. I'd tell you if I had a hint. Could you find him? He has no one to make him tea or take his laundry to the cleaners, I'm sure he's suffering. If I could just look for him. Maybe you..." Neena babbled.  
  
"We'll let you know if we find anything out. Oh, I have another transmission coming in, take care Neena, talk to you later," Canal interrupted before she closed the connection.  
  
"Why did you do that, Canal? I think she wants to come with us," Kain asked.  
  
"I don't want that system frying nitwit on my beautiful ship. I remember her frying my holographic relay if you don't. It...Was...Not...A...Pleasant...Experience," Canal finished the sentence with clenched teeth.  
  
"Okay," Kain backed off quickly and started walking around nervously. "Are we there yet?"  
  
"You sound like a kid on a school trip. Give me a chance to finish docking," Canal told Kain sternly. "Go get Lina and Xellos, oh never mind," she added as she spotted the pair entering the room.   
  
"Are we there yet?" Lina asked.  
  
"Geez, is there a broken record in here? I'm all docked now. Kain, you go get Milly and make sure that she's purchased enough food. I'm going to give these two a tour of the port," Canal blithely ordered Kain with a wave of her hand.  
  
"I'll just tell Milly to triple the order of food and buy some rations packs just in case," Kain answered.  
  
Lina and Xellos tried to act blasé at the view of the port but only Xellos managed to keep his calm. Soon, Lina was jumping from shop to shop, happily squealing at the items offered for sale. Soon she had outpaced Xellos and Canal, who were strolling behind her. Canal glanced at Xellos, who began to look around when they did not immediately catch up to Lina.  
  
"I don't like this," he muttered darkly as he quickened his pace.  
  
"Don't worry," Canal assured him "There is a detachment of Universal Guardians here so it's quite safe."   
  
"I'm not worried about Lina getting hurt..." Xellos' voice trailed off as he heard an explosion from in front of him. He added, "That's what I'm worried about," as he started flying towards the sight of the disturbance.  
  
Canal began to run after him, "Xellos, what do you mean? What is going on?" A feeling of dread came over her as she started to consider possible disasters.  
  
Later... much later... in the security office, Canal was standing in front of the Port Security Chief.  
  
"I'm sorry, she didn't know. I'll explain the laws to her and I'll pay for all the damages." Canal was trying to keep her voice calm but she could feel the frustration trying to break out.  
  
"Hi Canal, what's up?" Canal instinctively shied away from the newcomer's touch.  
  
"Oops, sorry. Can I help with anything?"  
  
"One of my passengers had a disagreement with a shop owner and lost her temper. She is not used to her new psy powers and inadvertently blew up his shop." Canal crossed her fingers behind her back and continued, "I've offered to take her back to the ship and not let her disembark again and I've offered to pay for all the damages but this gentleman will not let her go."  
  
"Let me see her file. Hmm no priors. Look at her picture chief, she's just a kid." Neena shoved the file under the chief's nose. His craggy features softened as he looked at Lina's picture.  
  
"You're right, she can't be more than 12 or 13, the same age as my daughter. Okay Canal, you're responsible for her. I'll have her released to you as soon as you pay the damages at the claims office."  
  
"Thank you. Thank you." Canal bowed quickly to UG Chief as she left the office and entered the hall.  
  
"Okay, Xellos, you can stop your escape plans; they're letting her go. Neena, don't sneak up on me like that and don't touch me." Canal skittered to the side nervously. "Thanks for your help back there, I was worried that we couldn't get Lina out before she blew up the jail."  
  
"Oh, she couldn't do that. She's in one of the psy blocking cells, standard practice with psy positive prisoners," Neena reassured Canal.  
  
Xellos snorted, "That's been tried before, didn't work then. Why don't I go reassure Lina while you pay her fines? I don't think there's a cell made in any world that could keep her in once she decides to leave." With a parting wave, he then disappeared.   
  
"Canal, is he a hologram too? I thought that you were the only hard hologram around." Neena looked quizzically at Canal.  
  
"No, that is one of my new crew members just like that girl in the cell. Have you heard anything new from Rail?"  
  
Tears started flowing from Neena's eyes. "There was a sighting of my Lt. in the D section but no one wants to go and help him. They all want to blow him up. Canal, you have to help him, you know that's he's not some horrible monster. If you let me go with you, I promise not to touch anything really, please."  
  
"Neena, I'll have to talk this over with Kain. We're pretty crowded as it is now and you'd do more good here where you can get information that we can't get any other way." Canal searched her mind for other reasons to give so that she wouldn't have to suffer Neena on board.  
  
"You may be right, I have to be at my Lt.'s office in case he comes back, but you will look for him won't you? Promise me Canal. When you leave here you'll go to D section, won't you?" Neena looked at Canal with tear filled eyes.  
  
Canal weighed the options in her mind. They had no set destination; one place really was as good as another, Neena would be an invaluable pipeline into UG HQ, and, best of all, Neena's electronic frying powers would be far away from her and Swordbreaker. As far as Canal could make out, this was a win win situation. She smiled at Neena. "Of course we'll go find Rail. Isn't he our friend? And I'm sure he'd do the same thing for us."  
  
"That's true. My Lt. is so lucky to have friends like you." Canal got out of the way just in time to miss out on a hug from the exuberant girl.  
  
"I have to go and pay Lina's fine now and get her out before she gets too upset. Give me a call later when you're off work," Canal told Neena as she rushed off.  
  
Back at the ship, Milly was complaining loudly, "There's only two more people, Kain, I don't understand why we bought out a supermarket." She adjusted a huge bag as she entered the ship. I mean, I am the world's greatest cook but this food is going to spoil before I have a chance to cook even a fraction of it."  
  
"Milly, I told you before, she eats like a starved animal. Canal tried to run it through the computer but gave up when she found out that Lina ate over twice her body weight in just one meal," Kain explained for what felt like the hundredth time.  
  
"She must be pretty fat then," Milly said as a happy smile appeared on her face.  
  
They heard a noise behind them. "They're just getting back now?" Kain wondered.  
  
"It's not my fault I tell you, he wouldn't take any gems in payment and the food was only second rate," a female voice shouted.   
  
"Lina, you did not have to blow up his shop. I don't know the customs of where you're from but that is not the way things are done here," Canal's voice shouted in return. Kain groaned as the ramifications of what was said made their way into his consciousness. Milly gave him a quizzical glance.  
  
"You don't want to know, in fact, I don't want to know," Kain told Milly.  
  
"Actually, it's not the custom at home, but then Lina has never been bound by tradition," a male voice interjected.  
  
Milly stared at the couple with Canal, a short young girl with a smiling man both wearing what looked to be Halloween costumes. Taking in the capes on their shoulders, she turned to Kain and said in a quiet voice, "I knew it. Capes are a sign of deep madness; I'm going to my kitchen now, I'll see you later." Milly then turned around and left with her bag of groceries.  
  
Kain lifted his hands in confusion. "That was Milly."   
  
  
  
  



	6. Oh No - Xellos takes an Apprentice

  
Here's chapter 6, So far so good, I still haven't gotten much feedback on whether or not the LU part is understood or not. The feedback I've gotten from the poll I had on my site indicated that the majority of people haven't a clue about LU and that's from slayers otaku O.o; So let me know. I'm trying to make the story understandable but I don't know if it's working.  
  
Oh No  
Xellos takes an apprentice  
  
Canal and Kain sat down an unrepentant Lina and started explaining the monetary facts of life to her. As her face started falling, Xellos turned around to mask the grin that had begun to form on his face; from what Kain had already told him, Lina was not going to like this at all.  
  
"Do you understand now, Lina?" Canal asked in a tired voice.  
  
Lina shook her head. "No more gold coins, just those little plastic cards. Where is the satisfaction to that? Does that mean all my treasure is now useless?" she added plaintively.  
  
Canal shook her head. "Not useless, but as there are so many cheap imitations there are very few dealers who deal in gem stones. I'd have to see what you have to tell you what was worth anything."  
  
"Xel, this place is mad, I want to go home," Lina cried out. "There isn't even any good food here."  
  
As an explosion shook the ship, Lina and Xellos took defensive positions, backs together.  
  
"Oh no, not again," Canal said as she beat her head against the wall. "75% of my budget is going towards repairs that she causes."  
  
"But a good meal is worth it, especially if it's prepared by Milly, the greatest Cook in the Universe," the blond proclaimed as she entered the control room. "I have prepared my extra special banquet for 50 along with Kain's bologna ice cream."  
  
"Food, you mean real food? Not that mess that comes from those boxes?" Lina drooled. "Where is it?" She grabbed Milly by the arm and dragged her toward the dining area.   
  
By the time the others had caught up, more than half the food was gone and Lina was still going strong. Instinctively, Kain did what all of Lina's companions had learned to do - grab what you can as fast as you can before it disappears.  
  
Milly looked on gratified. "A good meal is the answer to all of life's problems," she commented happily.  
  
After grabbing the last morsel of food, Lina agreed, "You're right. So many people don't understand that when the going gets tough, the tough get fed. You're right, though, with a full belly anything seems doable."  
  
Milly smiled, at least there was now one person who understood her philosophy of life. That Xellos was a real disappointment, though; all he had was one cup of tea, not nearly enough for a big strapping man like him. She'd have to take him under her wing and teach him about the joys of cooking and eating.  
  
"I'm glad you had me make the food order larger, Kain; my skills are really going to get a workout this trip. Oh, by the way, where are we going any way?"  
  
"Neena heard a rumour about Rail being spotted in the D sector; there's a private base there. If I use the warp drive I should be there in no time. Be good practice for Lina if I get her to power up the Swordbreaker and do the jump," Canal suggested.  
  
Kain's eyes flared jealously, up to now he had been Swordbreaker's only pilot since his grandmother. "I don't know; we just had an example of her control in port."  
  
Xellos waved back a sputtering Lina. "Lina and I come from a world far less forgiving of the miscasting of spells. She was the best sorceress of her generation at home; her control or lack of it outside of the realm of spells is immaterial." Xellos tried to banish memories of Lina taking out whole towns by mistake when angry. "I cannot link up with the magic systems of this ship, most likely because of my race, so Lina is your backup. It is a lot better for her to learn in a safe environment than in battle."  
  
Milly focused in on the one comment that caught her attention. "What do mean by different race? You look human and there are no other known races that can mimic us that well." Milly's eyes gleamed. "I've discovered a new life form, I'll be famous, awards will be given to me for being the Greatest Discoverer in the Universe."   
  
Kain and Canal groaned, this was not the preferred reaction from Milly, the expected one maybe but not the preferred one.  
  
Milly's heart started racing as Xellos beamed at her. Visions of fame and fortune danced in her mind.  
  
"You're going to have to be the Greatest in the Universe at another thing instead," Xellos told her.  
  
"What the Greatest Diplomat, or the Greatest Trader?" Milly asked.  
  
"The Greatest Secret Keeper in the world," Xellos replied.  
  
"Oh that's easy." Milly was disappointed, no fame and fortune keeping secrets.  
  
"Not really, the fun part lies in letting people know you know what they're looking for even if you don't have a clue. I've been doing it for a while now and due to outside influences, I'll have to give up the title. Ask Lina, I was known far and wide for my secrets." Xellos caught a glance from Lina and gave her a smile. "I'm not giving them all up, Lina dear, so don't worry."  
  
Lina snorted and answered. "Xellos is right; he was famous for secrets. I'm sure if you looked up secrets in the dictionary, his picture would be there."  
  
Milly thought it over carefully, "What you really mean is I can't say anything about you and that you're caught up in whatever mess Canal and Kain are in now?"  
  
Xellos nodded in agreement.  
  
"Oh well, if you have to do something, do it right. I will be the Greatest Secret Keeper in the Universe." As Milly flashed a victory sign, Lina had a scary flashback of Amelia doing the same thing and shivered.  
  
"I think it's about time you explain to Milly here what's going on," Lina told Kain and Canal. She'll need some secrets to keep." Lina then turned to Xellos and glared. "Just don't teach her your 'that is a secret' finger waggle thing," as she added the last comment Lina imitated Xellos' voice and gestures.  
  
"That is so cute," Milly exclaimed and started practicing "That is a...secret. That is... a secret. That... is a secret. I think I got it on the last try. What do you think, Xellos?"  
  
"Perfect, the pause goes after the 'that' the finger waggle is done during the pause," Xellos began instructing Milly.  
  
Lina just looked on in horror. What had they unleashed on this poor unsuspecting crew? She turned to Canal and Kain and apologized furiously.  
  
"Come on, Lina, it can't be that bad," Canal answered.  
  
"You have no idea," groaned Lina. She wondered if she should be giving Canal Filia's mace, but decided that she would get more use out of it pounding Xellos later. At least they had gotten off the subject of Xellos' race; she really didn't want to get into the whole monster explanation again at the moment. She much preferred that they continued to think of Xellos as a strange human right now. Canal knew differently but luckily she was keeping her mouth closed. The whole reformed monster thing had gone right over Kain's head.  
  
Not for the first time, Lina wished that Naga could see Canal. As much as Naga's confidence level annoyed her, Naga was really the best sorceress Lina knew when it came to Golem creation. Could Naga recreate Canal or something like her? No, probably Naga would end up with something closer to those other lost ships.   
  
"Time for warp, Lina, let's go," Canal broke Lina out of her reverie.  
  
When they got to the control room, Lina was not surprised to see Kain following them. Protecting his ship; Lina could understand that and even admire it, even though she knew much of it was prompted by his fear of her losing control. Canal's eyes narrowed as Kain took a seat at the weapons monitor.   
  
Kain looked back defiantly. "I'll give the orders and Lina can provide the psy energy. You want Lina to learn to channel through the ship, right? Well, she needs to concentrate on that and not worry about the rest."  
  
Canal smiled. "You're right, Kain. Let's get going. Lina, sit down in the control chair. This will be very similar to when we were fighting; the important thing is that you concentrate on giving me your energy. I can draw on your power by myself, but it is better if you give it to me."  
  
Lina sat down at the chair trying to ignore Kain giving the orders. She jumped a bit when two protruberances extended themselves on each side of her head, but remained calm. "Okay, this is just the same as when I used the demon blood amulets." Experimentally, she activated the amulets as well as she pushed power into collecting rods. Damn, she really preferred using a sword, aiming energy to her temples was giving her a headache. Hearing Canal making a comment about the power collection being slow, she lifted her hands to the rods and began feeding them magic that way.   
  
"Stop, Lina, we're charged," Canal shouted as the ship warped.  
  
Lina sat down later with Canal while applying a healing spell to her sore head.  
  
"What happened, Lina? There was only a trickle then all of a sudden my power levels were charged," Canal asked.  
  
"There's a difference in how I use my magic and how you've been doing it. If I'm working with large amounts of power, I use my hands. This channel power through your head thing hurts me. If you want me to be effective, you'll have to change the design of my chair or at least the collection unit. Even using my amulets, I just couldn't do it well."  
  
"That's an easy redesign. Do you mind if I analyze those amulets, though?" Canal asked. "There may be something I can copy."   
  
"I doubt it but you're welcome to try. Those are demon's blood amulets, made with the blood from the demon lord in each of the four worlds. I have no idea how they were made or where they come from; I got them from Xellos so he may be able to give more information, but now that he has taken an apprentice in secret keeping, it could be difficult," answered Lina, handing over the amulets. "Be careful with them, they are unique."  
  
As Milly walked in Kain asked, "Hey, Milly, when is supper?"  
  
"Now that... is a secret," Milly answered.  
  
  
  
  
  



	7. Fun with Magic

  
Here's chapter 7, I've been a busy, busy girl. ^__^, I'm currently working on chap 9 of this and chapter 3 of Honour of the clans, as well as playing around with my page. It's really starting to take shape (the page that is, well the stories too) Monmon, you're back ^__^ I guess that means I'll have to start adding more mushy stuff .  
  
Fun  
With Magic  
  
Lina sat in the new and improved alternate control chair. Canal had configured the psy collection rods and they now extended in front of Lina where she could comfortably hold her hands while resting her elbows on the arms of the chair. Kain watched her with a frown.  
  
"How can you do that?" he asked. "The power comes from your mind, not your hands."   
  
"Actually, magic is an innate part of you, it doesn't really matter where you focus it as long as you are comfortable. I find that having the build up so close to my mind disrupts my will and I can't concentrate properly. How do you think you control your sword? The focus is through your hands." Lina thought for a moment. "Here, sit down and try to charge the barrier," she said as she got out of the seat. Kain gingerly took her place.   
  
After a moment, Kain threw up is hands in anger. "This is stupid, I'm perfectly happy doing things the same way I've always done them."  
  
Lina gave Kain a hard look. "So you're a quitter, are you?"  
  
"Who are you calling a quitter? I just said it was useless. I'm going to try anyway, now explain it to me again."  
  
Lina closed her eyes and took a deep breath to compose herself. "Get into position and close your eyes. Now think of using my, oops your, sword of light. Now imagine you're calling up its power; feel the power in your hands, increase the light, more... more.... The enemy you're fighting will kill you if you can't bring as much power into the blade as you can. Use your fear, direct it into the blade, take your anger, feelings of hopelessness, they go into the blade as well." Lina smiled triumphantly as she got a nod from Canal. "Okay, stop now the psycho barrier is ready to run."  
  
Kain looked at Lina in confusion. "Charged already? I don't feel tired at all."  
  
"You were right, Lina, by feeding his negative emotions and changing the focus point, Kain shorted the power up time immensely," Canal noted.  
  
"As you can see, the power is also drawn more efficiently without as many side effects," Lina added.  
  
"I'm going to be busy for a while with calculations. I'd really like to discuss your friend, Xellos, with you later though. His power operates differently than yours and I'd like to understand it a bit better," Canal informed Lina.  
  
Lina looked into space. "I really can't give you too much information about Xellos' power, especially now that it's changed. All I can tell you, with any type of certainty, is that it is intrinsic to who he is. He was given his original power level when he was created. He really can't use spells the way I do; actually it would kill a lesser member of his race, but he can draw on the power of the Mother of All. That ability sets him apart from the others in so many levels."  
  
Lina sighed and looked directly into Canal's eyes. "You may not want to talk to Xellos directly about this, but he himself may not understand about his power, all you can do is ask. To be quite honest, if you can help him maximize his power he would be grateful."  
  
Canal nodded. "If you think that is the right thing to do, I'll do it later, when I'm done processing the data I've collected, and downloaded some files from the psy energy experimental centres."   
  
"Well, I'll just be going now, I'm hungry." Lina smiled impishly.  
  
"When aren't you?" Kain shot back then reddened as his own belly grumbled. "I guess it is time to eat."  
  
"Kain, did I explain a side effect of using that much energy?" Lina asked then continued as Kain shook his head. "Well, the way you were charging up was very inefficient, and was interfering with your mind. You probably felt like you had gone through the wringer and food was the last thing on your mind, but your body needs to replace the reserves that you used, so now that your head doesn't hurt, it's telling you to eat."  
  
"I actually used more power there." Kain looked away. "How easy would it be to use a final psy blast like that and not even realize it?"  
  
Lina sighed. "That's something I've seen done and it is scary, it isn't a worry for me because I have access to an unlimited source of power." Lina patted her sword. "My limitations are all centered around the fact that I need my personal reserves to control what I draw. The one time I drew too much, I passed out before all of my life energy was gone, mind you, I did have white hair for a while afterwards. Gourry, a dear friend of mine, called me Granny the whole time." Lina walked over to the wall and rested her head against the railing. "Gourry, Zel, Amelia, all my friends are so far away. I wonder how they're doing."  
  
Kain laughed. "If they survived traveling with you, I'm sure they're fine."  
  
"Smart aleck, let's get to the important stuff...."   
  
"Food!" they shouted in unison.  
As Milly heard the pair enter the dining area she smiled, hungry people to feed. "I'm almost done; take a seat and I'll bring it out."   
  
Lina and Kain sat at the table. "Hey, where's Xellos? Don't tell me that he took off somewhere without telling me. I thought that I had finally broken him of that habit."  
  
"Tsk, tsk, Lina, you're sounding more like a wife every day," came a voice from behind her.  
  
"Xellos, you fruitcake," Lina yelled as she hit him on the head. Xellos obliged Lina by giving a very convincing groan before he dropped the act and smiled.  
  
"Do it again, Lina. You know how much I love it when you touch me." Xellos' eyes lit up with a wicked joy.  
  
"Xellos Metallium, behave yourself," Lina told him firmly, trying to suppress the dimples that were struggling to appear on her cheeks. "Where were you any way?"  
  
"I took another jaunt in the astral plane, it's so soothing. I didn't see our blond friend but I did spot some other areas of darkness, one which just left the area we are going to."  
  
"Didn't Neena say that the UG had accused your friend, Rail, of stealing a lost ship?" Lina asked Kain.  
  
Kain nodded in agreement then added, "I hope he still is a friend. We'll be docking soon; there should be some information available here. Neena did say that Rail had been sighted at this port."  
  
"Are we in port soon? Great, I have some more grocery shopping to do," Milly remarked as she started bringing in platters of food. Putting a special plate in front of Xellos, she motioned for him to try it. "You are going to waste away to nothing, Xellos. Try this, I'm not known as the Greatest Cook in the Universe for nothing."  
  
Xellos looked at the plate in stupefaction. "I really don't need to eat, I had quite a nibble earlier."  
  
Milly gave Xellos a severe look. "I know that there was nothing missing from the Galley, so don't try to brush me off."  
  
Xellos and Lina both sweatdropped. Not wanting to go into his normal explanation of his method of feeding to the others, Xellos took the plate and sat between Lina and Kain, going through the motions of eating while Lina cleared his plate for him. Lina's ultra fast eating techniques were certainly coming in handy, he told himself. Humans really didn't react well to his normal eating habits.  
  
Canal's picture came on screen. "We're in port now folks and I've located Rail. It really wasn't difficult, as he's a patient in the local hospital. Kain, get ready, we're going to see him right away."   
  
"We're going as well," Xellos spoke up. "When I was in the astral plane, I felt what I assume was a lost ship leaving the area; I have to assess if there's any link between your friend and the dark presence. Lina can do any healing, she's better at it than I am."  
  
Lina shot Xellos a sharp glance before remembering Melee's little gift in her hip pocket. The spell that freed Xellos from Zelas would be needed if Rail were under the lost ship's control.  
  
Canal looked frustrated for a second and then agreed to their wishes. "Okay, but no fights Lina. Xellos, you are responsible for her."  
  
Xellos snickered, "That's a new one, Lina, it's usually the other way around."  
  
"Take it as a sign of your new respectability. Soon you'll be a humourless, staid old man," Lina shot back.  
  
Xellos grabbed at his heart. "Wounded, wounded to my very core. Lina, you have destroyed me."  
  
"Come on, you fruitcake, answers are awaiting us," Lina laughed as she drug the ham along behind her.   
  
  



	8. Rail - Links to the Darkside

Sorry this has taken so long it's been crazy, chap 9 is in outline form but still needs to be fleshed out if I can get more that 5 min at a time at the computer I'll get it done. If I could get more than 5 hours sleep a night it'll go even faster ^_^ *yawn*  
  
  
Chapter 8  
  
  
Hospitals were the same no matter which world you were on. Lina rubbed her nose as the astringent smell of antiseptics tickled her nose. She never had been very good with sickness; it wasn't an enemy that she could battle. Xellos, on the other hand, had never looked happier as he strolled down the corridor. Lina poked him sharply in the ribs.  
  
"Don't you feel any shame?" Lina asked Xellos sharply.  
  
A sad expression drifted over his expression for a second. "Lina, I don't enjoy their pain anymore and I would take it away if I could, but I truly do not think they would mind strengthening me to help save their world if they knew the danger."  
  
"You're right, Xellos, I'm sorry. This place puts me on edge." Lina looked at an old man with blank eyes sitting listlessly on a wheelchair and shuddered. "I don't like hospitals."  
  
Xellos considered Lina for a second and then steered her down another corridor. There, a woman was hugging a child with a large grin on her face. "Did you hear that sweetheart? You're brother is going to be just fine. Thank you, Doctor."  
  
As they moved back towards Kain and Canal, he told Lina, "The strange thing, Lina dear, is that there is a lot of joy here as well. We just tend to focus on the negative."  
  
Lina smiled at Xellos. "You surprise me, Xellos, you've come a long way since our meeting with Melee. What's next?"  
  
Xellos leaned over, slinging an arm around Lina and looked her straight in the eyes. Lina's breath caught as Xellos' face neared hers and she could feel his warm breath against her lips. 'But Xellos doesn't breathe' a part of her brain gibbered.  
  
"Now that Lina dearest is..." as Lina's eyes darkened, Xellos finished, "something I really don't know."  
  
Lina caught herself giggling, not even noticing as they arrived at their destination that Xellos had left his arm over her shoulders.   
  
"We're here, just keep to the back and let us talk to Rail. The doctor said he's very confused," Canal told Lina and Xellos.  
  
Lina nodded. "Let Xellos take a quick peek in the astral plane first to see if there are any links to the lost ship."  
  
"We really don't have time for that," Kain protested  
  
"It'll only take a moment," Xellos replied as he popped out of view with a finger waggle.  
  
Canal blinked in amazement. "It's that easy for him?"  
  
"The astral plane is his home, more so than our plane. In our world, there were very few that could match him in battle and since our power up, even they would fall in front of him. Underestimating Xellos is always a bad idea, especially if you're his enemy."  
  
"I'm starting to believe that," Canal agreed thoughtfully.  
  
"Well folks, I'm back," chirped an overly cheerful voice behind them.  
  
"Xellos, how many times do I have to tell you not to sneak up on me?" snarled Lina as she took out the mace.  
  
"Lina, Lina, calm down," Xellos said lifting his hands up in the air as he backed up. "Don't you want to hear my news?"  
  
"Make it good, fruitcake," Lina shot back.  
  
"He hasn't contracted with a monster or lost ship, but there is a connection that is slowly draining him. It isn't a control link so it should be pretty easy for the two of us to sever it. We'll have to be close enough to touch him, though."  
  
"If he's being incoherent, that connection is probably the cause then," Kain observed. "You two do your thing first, then Canal and I will talk to him. Will it bother you if we watch you two do it?"  
  
Xellos gave Kain a sharp look and shook his head. "You're really going to have to watch your phrasing a bit better." As Kain flushed, Xellos continued, "But yes, you may observe the procedure. Don't interrupt us though, it would be dangerous for your friend."  
  
Kain and Canal nodded in agreement. When they entered the room, they saw a good looking man in his late twenties lying in the bed with his eyes closed. The man was muttering about evil and lost ships. Kain shook his head sadly; Rail was far from being the cocky Universal Guard that had conned them into so many low paying jobs.   
  
"We'll have to let Neena know where Rail is," Kain told Canal quietly.  
  
"Already done. I also told her we'd let her know how he is when we're done visiting," Canal answered.  
  
Lina and Xellos took positions on each side of the bed, Lina taking a moment to glance at the spell book. "This will work better if I disentangle the threads within him while you cut off the link off in the astral plane," Lina suggested.  
  
"Sounds good, Lina dear. Give me a signal when you're ready and I'll give them a yank," Xellos answered.  
  
"What type of signal?"  
  
"Just shoot me a beam of your love and admiration," Xellos told Lina wistfully.  
  
"Fruitcake," Lina shot back, "I'll have to draw power from my sword; if you've activated the chaos diamond, I can contact you."  
  
"Sure, take the easy way out, that's not as fun," answered Xellos as he vanished to the astral plane.  
  
Lina stretched out. "Now you two, if I'm interrupted, not only will I have to start over but from the location of the anchors of this drain, I'll hurt your friend here. Canal, is there some way you and Kain can barrier this room? I'll have to teach Kain some barrier spells later but that takes too much time for right now."  
  
"Yes, a modified psychobarrier will do it, but it will be very draining for Kain," Canal answered with a worried tone.  
  
"It's important. Do it," snapped Lina.  
  
Lina took out her sword as she stood by the bed. This was not going to be as simple as she had made them think; instead of one line, there was a tangle of threads leading to a hundred different points. It was a very effective way of draining a person's life energy but it was going to be difficult to untangle them all. Calling on the Mother's power, Lina felt her sword transforming into a golden ball. She could feel Xellos nearby and sent a wordless message to him that she was about to begin before disengaging the first filament. As each thread was removed, Xellos gently pulled it into the astral plane and destroyed it. It was tedious work but they were slowly getting to the end when what Lina feared the most began to happen. Whoever was responsible for the link began to fight back.  
  
Lina sent a voiceless cry to Xellos, worried that he was under attack, when she received a sense of the threads trying to reattach themselves. She gritted her teeth, drew more power and worked faster. Soon, it became a battle to see if she could remove the threads faster than they could attach themselves with Xellos slowing them down as much as possible. When at last the final thread was removed, Xellos sent a flash of power down the line destroying the ends completely.  
  
As Xellos rematerialized, Lina slumped to the floor, exhausted.  
  
"I don't want to do that again," she told the others in a tired voice.  
  
Canal looked at Xellos and Lina and then at Kain who had taken a position on the floor as well. "If this tires all of you out so much, how will we ever survive destroying Darkstar?"  
  
Lina smiled. "Canal, surely you are old enough to know that destroying takes much less power than healing."  
  
A groan came from the hospital bed. "Where am I? Why are all of you here? I don't have any jobs for you today, Kain."  
  
Kain smiled. "Maybe not, but you do have something else we need, an explanation."  



	9. Lost Ships - What is Rail not telling?

I'm finally back on track and writing, I have time to myself and life is good. ^_^ chap 10 is being proofed and I'm currently working on chap 11. The climax approaches, then I'm working on Honour of the Clans. Life is good.   
  
Lost ships - What is Rail not telling?  
  
Chapter Nine  
  
Rail looked over the group, closing his eyes for a moment before continuing in a weak voice. "The lost ships are evil, tainting all of humanity with their madness. They are a darkness we must all fight against. I was unable to destroy the one I was on, but they must be destroyed or humanity will be lost to the abyss. Our only hope is to band together and fight as a single unit. Where a single human can not withstand the power of a lost ship, as a group we can cast off the shackles of hate and madness to rid ourselves of the ones which enslave us. Humanity has always fought against being trapped; we may take many casualties but in the end, we will survive. Humans are very good at surviving."  
  
Lina glanced at Kain. "Does he always talk like that?"  
  
"Pretty much." Kain shrugged.  
  
"Hey, Rail, how did you try to kill the lost ship?" Lina asked leaning forward to look the bedridden man in the eyes.  
  
"Who are you? No matter, you are human. I had the codes. There is a group within the Universal Guardians who have always known that the lost ships would be back, that Darkstar would rise again. We have searched out the old lore and preserved it, waiting for the next emergence." Rail's eyes hardened as he caught sight of Xellos standing close to Lina, "You, what are you? Not human, but what? Explain," Rail demanded.  
  
Xellos laughed sheepishly, putting on his most harmless demeanour. "Me just a traveling priest, completely harmless I assure you."  
  
Lina snorted, "Don't worry, Rail, Xellos and I are here to help destroy Darkstar. We've fought against him before and we want to finish the job this time."  
  
"They are the one's that destroyed your link to the lost ship, you should show a bit of gratitude," Kain added.  
  
"If you did that... then... I truly thank you." Rail's eyes blinked shut as he drifted off to sleep.   
  
"We should leave him alone for a while, did you let Neena know how he is?" Kain asked Canal.  
  
"I'm doing that now... no. Neena, don't do that... stay there....Arghhhh!" Canal stood in the corridor not moving for a moment and then drifted out of the room mumbling to herself.  
  
"I guess Neena is on her way." Kain smiled. "I'm sure that she'll be taking good care of her Lt. Rail."  
  
Rail's groan was almost inaudible against the wails that started in the hallway. Kain's smile widened as he remembered the chicken episode, revenge was going to be sweet. "There, there, I'm sure she'll make you lots of tea to wear, Rail." Yes, revenge was going to be sweet.  
  
"We'll be back later," Lina told Rail after shooting Kain a quizzical look. "We have a lot to talk about and I want to read what scrolls you have."  
  
"Scrolls, hah, I should have known you'd have as sense of humour hanging around Kain." Rail laughed weakly. "Keep it, you'll need it."  
  
"Ooookay, rest up now." Lina gave Rail another sharp look and then turned and left the room. Xellos followed after her giving Kain a saucy smile and a wink.  
  
"Are you going to be all right here, Rail?" Kain asked, then succumbing to temptation added, "Until Neena arrives, of course."  
  
"Neena is a very able assistant, I'll let you know," Rail protested. "The time however is wrong for..." Rail's voice drifted off as he succumbed to the pull of unconsciousness.  
  
Lina and Xellos waited outside, Lina shifting her weight nervously as she watched the distraught Canal. "All that angst and not a meal to be found." Xellos nudged Lina in the ribs. "What do you think?"  
  
"Of what, oh Rail, I still need more information. What's so funny about scrolls, Xellos?"  
  
"Don't know." Xellos shrugged. "These people are definitely strange."  
  
Lina started giggling, "That is a first, you calling someone else strange."  
  
Xellos smiled at Lina fondly, enjoying the rush of joy that she emitted. He coveted her happiness, which was rapidly becoming more important to him than his own desires. Lina still couldn't, no wouldn't believe in his love for her. He wanted to be patient, he should have learned at least that in the past thousand years or so, but it seemed like everything he thought he knew was wrong when it came to his new feelings. Except for how he felt for Lina, that was the one thing that he held onto when everything else turned crazy. Liking people, wanting to help out these weird new people, Xellos shook his head, why would he want these things? That Lina wanted it should be reason enough but why would he want it, another mystery for him to solve.  
  
`Damn it, I shouldn't have secrets from myself,' Xellos thought to himself. `I wonder if...' Xellos edged closer to Lina and slipped his hand into hers, enjoying how she unconsciously went into sync with him. Drawing on her contentment, he stroked her palm gently feeling a quiver of pleasure go through her. Xellos grinned to himself like a child with a new toy and continued, pausing only when Lina began drawing back, then continuing again when she was distracted by Kain leaving the room and walking with Canal down the hallway towards the exit. As Lina became engrossed in Kain and Canal's conversation about ship functions, he let her hand go and gently slipped it around her waist, holding her loosely until she was used to the weight and then tightening it slowly until she fit under his arm.  
  
Just as Xellos was considering his next move Lina stumbled on a step. "What are you doing, you fruitcake?" Lina asked angrily.  
  
"Just trying to stop you from falling," Xellos answered, plastering his most innocent look on his face.  
  
Lina glared at him and stalked off, her spine stiff with outrage. Xellos laughed to himself, this was an experiment that bore repeating. She did get so involved with her textbooks. Watching Lina walk in front of him, Xellos stopped for a moment to enjoy the view. She would be his one day, but that patience thing was definitely not going to be easy.  
  
  
  
  
  



	10. The Green Eyed Monster strikes

Here's the next chapter, ^_^. I just wanted to mention that I have a poll running on my page, about whether or not I should do a lemon for this story, The story really doesn't need it but oh well. I'll see what the poll says before deciding. ^_~  
  
Chapter 10   
The Green Eyed Monster strikes  
  
Canal worked furiously at her workstation mumbling to herself, "If we wait for Rail no, she'll be here, even with an early discharge and put in the med section, no she'd still be here. Okay, just enough time to finish our resupply and leave."  
  
"Kain, get over here, we leave in 15 minutes, as soon as the missiles are loaded, we'll have to make do with redi-meals but we've got to get going!" Canal shouted completely forgetting that Lina on the other side of the control room.  
  
"Redi-meals!" Lina shouted angrily, pushing up her sleeves. "That crap you were feeding us before Milly came on board? I don't think so."  
  
Kain rushed over and placed himself between Lina and Canal, giving Lina a wary look; he had figured out early on, in common with many of her previous traveling companions, that getting between Lina and her food was NOT A GOOD IDEA. "Listen, Canal, we need to wait for Rail. He has access to a lot of information that we need and with him being hunted by the Universal Guardians, it won't be available if he gets locked up."  
  
"But Kain, Rail isn't the problem. Neena is going to be here in a day; she was already on her way when I talked to her. There's no way we can take Rail and not get stuck with her. I don't want her on Swordbreaker. She'll destroy all of my electronics," Canal ended with another wail.  
  
"I'm sorry, Canal, but we wait for Rail," Kain responded.  
Canal shot Kain a dirty look then pointedly looked back to her workstation with a disgruntled humph. Kain sighed and shook his head; the next few days would not be pleasant.   
  
"Well, well, what is going on here?" Xellos chirped happily as he phased into the room.  
  
"Canal had some stupid idea about leaving with no food resupply," Lina growled. "Just so she didn't have to deal with that Neena girl."  
  
Xellos looked at Canal closely, moving beside her. "Listen, Canal, I know from bitter experience that no matter how bad Neena is, you do not want to see Lina after an extended period with bad food. She grows fangs, gets moody and attacks poor innocent bystanders like myself. While I kinda like it when she beats on me, most other people don't and a dragon slave or two would really wreak havoc in here."  
  
"I haven't figured out how to do my black magic here yet," Lina informed the rest haughtily. "Be assured though, Xel, when I do, you will be the first to know."  
  
"Umm, thank you, Lina. I think." Xellos laughed nervously, putting his hand behind his neck. "I was just going to let you know that I just came back from the astral plane; it's all clear in this area. I can still see signs of that Dark Seeder guy in the distance though. I was thinking of going over there to play, what do you think, Lina dear, should I go have some fun?"  
  
Lina thought for a second. "As much as I'd enjoy seeing you beat up Xellos, I think you'd better wait until we get more information from Rail. Besides, I don't have time to take care of an injured fruitcake right now."This day was just getting longer and longer, Lina thought as she grabbed a chair for support.  
  
"Lina dear, you do care." Xellos rematerialised behind Lina and swept her up in his arms.  
  
"Xellos! You, you fruitcake!" Lina shouted as she untangled herself and pounded Xellos on the head. "Don't you surprise me like that."  
"You mean it's okay as long as I warn you first?" asked the unrepentant monster.  
  
As steam started shooting from Lina's ears, Milly entered the control room, announcing that supper was now served, which instantly calmed Lina down much to everyone's relief  
  
"Food." Eyes sparkling, Lina asked, "What have you cooked up for us today?"  
  
"Now that is a... secret," Milly answered cheerily.  
  
"That is my cue to depart." Xellos disappeared from sight.   
  
"Xellos. You get back here right now!" Lina screamed.  
  
While the others were eating, Xellos sat quietly in Lina's room, thinking about all the changes that had occurred to him since he had met Melee. He sighed deeply; all the times he had mocked the humans were coming back to haunt him. This emotion thing was not getting easier. At first, he had been flushed with joy over his feeling for Lina; now they were stronger and more painful. How could she not understand that he did care for her, that she had become his world? When she joked with the others and spent time with Kain, teaching him magic, it burned within him. His mind knew that she saw Kain as a replacement for Gourry, but he found himself sampling her emotions every time she talked to him just to reassure himself. Now they would be bringing another male with them, more competition. Sure Rail had that Neena person, but how could any male, or well, pseudo male, see his Lina and not want her. She was so vibrant, so alive.   
  
Xellos sighed, the original rush of emotions and guilt he had felt was nothing compared to what the day to day agony he felt now. The worst part was she did care for him, he could feel it, but as long as she didn't admit it to herself, he was afraid that she would convince herself that a human male was her best choice. He had seen humans do stupider things.  
  
Xellos pasted a smile on his face, as he heard a noise outside the room. Lina certainly finished eating quickly.  
  
"Hi, Xel, what are you doing here?" Lina asked.  
  
Losing his nerve, Xellos answered quickly. "Just wanted to get your thoughts about our newest traveling companion."  
  
"Rail, let's see. I think he knows a lot more than he's let on so far," Lina answered, sitting in a chair beside Xellos. "Apart from that, nothing special. No magic aura like Kain. There is something about him that bugs me, though; did he give himself willingly to that dark ship and if he did, why? A ploy to get close enough to destroy it or a desire for power before he realised what it would cost?"  
  
Xellos nodded in understanding. "Even on our world, some who took a contract with a monster, changed their minds when they saw what it really meant and they would have been better informed than the people in this world."  
  
"They are surprisingly ignorant about what goes on around them, aren't they," Lina observed, not really asking a question. "I wonder how they managed to survive in ignorance until now."  
  
Xellos shrugged. "Humans are very good at surviving, their main talent I believe."  
  
Gathering his courage, Xellos reached for Lina's hand, bringing his face closer to hers. "Lina, there is something I've wanted to talk to you about..."  
  
Just as her eyes met his, an alarm went off. Swearing under his breath, he looked towards the computer monitor. Canal. "Kain just came under a psychic attack. I need help here; he's not responding."  
  
"I'm off to the astral plane, Lina dear. We can talk later." Xellos pressed his lips to Lina's in a hard kiss and dematerialised, leaving a stunned Lina behind, a hand pressed to her lips.   
  
Entering the Astral plane, the first thing Xellos spotted was Kain facing off with the blond man from before; both were wielding swords of light.  
  
"Now, now, having a party and not inviting me. That's no fun," Xellos announced with an edge to his voice. He was not happy with the interruption.  
  
"Kain, why don't you go back to the ship? I'll take care of this piece of rubbish."  
  
"But, this is my fight," Kain growled.  
  
"Not yet, besides I have some frustrations to work off. I'll try to leave a piece for you." As Kain started to argue, Xellos added, "Listen, your emotions are all over the place, you need some lessons in control from Lina first. Oops, did I say that? Don't tell Lina okay." Xellos smiled saucily. "You'd be doing me a favour, this is my battle ground. Yours is the ship."  
  
As Kain wavered, Xellos pushed him back in his body. "Humans never know when to quit."  
  
"Now for you." Xellos let go of his human seeming and took his astral form with relief. He grinned as Dark Seeder's eyes widened in recognition. "Ready to play, young man," Xellos shouted as he deployed his battle cones and attacked, keeping away from the sword that his enemy wielded.  
  
The match would have been over in a minute if it hadn't been for the sword. Xellos could feel himself weakening as his cones were destroyed by the sword. However, he was getting just as many hits in and Dark Seeder slowed as the energy beams started taking their toll. Remembering his gem, Xellos began to draw energy from it. Dark Seeder's eyes widened as he felt the energy build up.  
  
"Time to leave, if you want to be part of the winning team let me know," Dark Seeder taunted as he disappeared.  
  
"Damn," Xellos swore. "Another minute and I would have had him."  
Returning to the ship, Xellos found the others in the control room. "Okay, what happened on this end?" he asked as he slumped into a chair.  
  
"You're hurt." Lina rushed over to Xellos, looking for signs of injury.  
  
"Don't worry, Lina, I'm just tired. Besides, you know how fast I recuperate."  
  
"Not from injuries from the sword of light you don't." Lina continued to check for injuries, patting Xellos on his back and chest.  
  
"As much as I enjoy what you're doing, I think we should go back to your room before we embarrass the others." Xellos pointed to their companions who were all looking away whistling.  
  
"Xellos, you fruitcake," Lina screeched punching him in the head.  
  
"Hey, who was feeling who up?" Xellos asked in a plaintive voice. "Here I am fighting to protect my Lina-chan and do I get gratitude, no."  
  
Lina looked at him guiltily. "I'm sorry, Xellos. Were you hurt?"  
  
"No, but you can check some more if you want to," Xellos answered in a teasing tone wanting to see her eyes light up again and drinking in the fear that she felt for him. So different from fear directed at him, such a little difference, in a way, but then in another way, when added to the concern and caring Lina felt, it made all the difference in the world. He almost wished for a real injury so that she could take care of him. In a flash of insight, he realised the reason that men over the millennium had fought to protect the women they loved.  
  
"Did you spot the lost ship, Canal?" he asked, quickly trying to get back to reality.   
  
"It phased in and took Kain, then phased out again just before you got back," Canal answered.  
  
"That answers one question I had, he's limited to a certain range." Xellos smiled smugly. "That's good, because I'm not."  
  
"What do you mean?" Kain asked.  
  
"Simple, wherever he is, I can find him eventually; I have no limitations on my range in the astral plane because I'm not bound to a body."  
  
"But when he isn't in the astral plane, you can't touch him, right?" Lina asked.  
  
"Lina dear, you know better than that, I just can't find him as easily; however, that ship he's on is like a black cloud in the astral plane. I'm just going to have to figure out how to pull him in and how to do it in such a way that he leaves his sword behind. Who wants to be the guinea pig? Lina or Kain?"  
  
"Why not me?" Milly asked, contributing to the conversation for the first time.  
  
"Sorry, my dear, but you have no... actually, yes, you do have a magical presence. It is pretty weak, too weak for spells but you could do this."  
  
"What do you mean weak? I'll have you know that I'm the greatest in the universe no matter what I decide to do," Milly answered in an upset tone of voice.  
  
"Of course but right now, Milly, you'll have to be the `Greatest Guinea Pig in the Universe.'" Xellos patted her on the shoulder.  
  
"That just doesn't have the proper sound," Milly grumbled. "When do we start?"  
  
"Let me rest up for a while first," Xellos answered. "We'll start in the morning. After you do the grocery shopping, I don't want Lina mad at me again."  
  
"When has that ever stopped you?" Lina asked.  
  
Canal shook her head, she really missed the days when it was just Kain and she and life was relatively peaceful.  
  
"Rail sure heals fast," observed Milly.   
  
"Yes, we have a day until Neena arrives so let me get departure clearance and we'll get going." Canal nodded happily.  
  
"What do you mean I can't leave now!!" Canal screamed into the monitor. "Security concerns my ... I want to leave now and I'm going to."  
  
"Canal, what are you going to do?" Milly asked in a timid tone.  
  
"I'm leaving, that is what I'm doing," Canal growled.  
  
"But we're still hooked up to the docking ring." Milly protested.  
  
"So I'll tear them out."  
  
"Kain just went on station."  
  
Canal stopped what she was doing. "What?"  
  
"He said he was going to meet up with another travel consultant, an old friend of his. He said he'd be back in the morning."  
  
Canal smashed her head against her keyboard repeatedly. "He's doing it on purpose, I know it."  
  
"Actually, Lina said something about how we could use Neena against the other lost ships. Kain thought it was a good idea." Milly informed Canal in voice which had lowered to barely a whisper.   
  
"Kain, You TRAITOR!" Canal's scream vibrated down the corridors to where Lina and Xellos were drinking tea with Rail.  
  
"I see Canal has found out about Kain's absence," Rail observed calmly.  
  
Lina snickered, "For a Golem, she sure is emotional."  
  
"That's not quite correct, Lina dear," Xellos observed. "She is more than that, as you well know."  
  
"True, but still she is emotional."  
  
Rail looked at the pair curiously, he still hadn't received a satisfactory explanation for the pair and the hacking he had done at the hospital before leaving hadn't given him any answers apart from a police record for Lina at the last port. A fiery lady for sure, looking at Xellos, who had managed to keep between him and Lina whenever they had met, Rail felt a mischievous impulse come over him.  
  
"Well, Lina, I heard that you were a girl who could enjoy a good meal. There's a really good restaurant on station here that serves some really exotic food. Would you be interested in accompanying me, since Xellos is going to be busy with Milly, of course."  
  
"Of course." Lina's eyes shone at the thought of new and exotic foods to eat. "I'm hungry anyway, let's eat."  
  
Xellos made a motion to try to stop Lina as she rushed out of the room, a sharp pain shooting through where his heart would be if he were human. Turning to Rail, he stared hard at the man.  
  
A chill went down Rail's back when, for the first time, he saw through Xellos' mask to the dangerous core of the monster.  
  
"She's mine, don't forget that," Xellos said in dangerous tones.  
  
"Surely it's up to the lady," Rail tried to bluff.  
  
"You'll be dust while she and I are still young. Do not challenge what you don't understand. Your friends and I have the same goal, but you are intruding on the one area in which I will not back down." Violet eyes flashed. "Remember what I've said," Xellos finished before disappearing.  
  
"I've got to find out how he does that trick," Rail tried to joke to himself. "I have definitely touched a sore spot and I don't think I really should have."  
  
Later, over dinner, Rail decided to pump Lina for information.   
  
"Your friend Xellos is quite fond of you, isn't he?"  
  
Lina sighed, "Its part of what we've gone through together; in our world, before he was chosen, Xellos was unable to feel positive emotions. He's still learning about feelings, but he's still very new to them. He's also dealing with the guilt of what he did when he was under Zelas' control."  
  
"Zelas?" Rail asked.  
  
"Our world's counterpart to the lost ships are monster lords. There were five of them, including Zelas. Xellos was Beast Master Zelas' priest and general, bound to her much the same way that you were bound to that lost ship, unable to feel love or joy and feeding on negative emotions. I really don't know if what he feels for me is love or gratitude for helping him through the period after he was able to feel. It was pretty intense."   
  
Rail snorted, "What he shows is far from gratitude. It is much too basic for that."  
  
"What do you mean?" Lina looked confused.  
  
"You two are just as bas as Milly and Kain, watching each other when you think no one is looking. How do you feel about your partner?"  
  
Lina looked down at her fingers and played with them as her cheeks flushed. "Well.. umm.." Deciding to change the subject out of simple self-preservation, she shot back, "How about you and that Neena girl we've been hearing so much about?"  
  
Rail just smiled. "Neena is there for me, she'll always be there for me. She fills a need deep in my soul. Someday we'll be married, but that'll only be a confirmation of something that, for us, doesn't need words. Your friend on the other hand needs the words, or, at the very least, he needs for you to trust in what the both of you feel. It really isn't a good idea for someone that dangerous to feel insecure."  
  
Lina shot Rail a sharp glance, surprised that he had seen the dangerous core of Xellos, something that Kain and the others had failed to do, the comment about Xellos being insecure though was ridiculous.  
  
"Don't worry, as you long as you do not threaten the two of us you're safe," Lina assured Rail.  
  
Rail nodded and smiled. "I'd already figured out that much, but deal with your relationship before it blows up in your face. I really wouldn't like for the rest of us to have to submit to the fallout. Ahh, I can hardly wait until Neena joins us, she can be restful as long as she isn't serving tea."  
  
"Tea?" Lina's eyebrows furrowed.  
  
Rail laughed heartily. "You'll see, oh, here comes the food."  
  
Back at the ship, Xellos and Milly, had lost patience with each other. Canal was unobtrusively trying to watch the proceedings.  
  
"All I want you to do is sit there. Why can't you understand? I don't want you to walk around, I don't want you to ask stupid questions when I'm trying to concentrate, I especially don't want you to fix me a meal," Xellos snarled at Milly.  
  
"Listen Mister, I don't have to stay here and listen to this. You can just find another guinea pig if you don't stop treating me like an inanimate object!" Milly shot back.  
  
"If I could find an inanimate object with magic potential, I'd use that before a mouthy human like you."  
  
"If you could figure out what the hell you were doing maybe things would go better. Stop trying to blame your failures on me."  
Xellos snarled, "I can see that trying to do anything with you is going to be impossible," and stomped out of the door.  
  
"What is his problem?" Milly asked Canal as she threw her hands up in the air.  
  
Canal looked at the door that Xellos had left through and turned to Milly. "Lina went out to supper with Rail tonight.  
  
Milly's jaw dropped. "Now I understand. I should have been more patient with the poor guy."  
  
Canal nodded. "Yes, men can get so emotional at times."  
  
"True," Milly agreed thinking about what she could cook to heal a broken heart.  
  
Xellos stomped into Lina's room, the feel of his feet hitting the ground relieving some of his frustrations. `Why did Lina go out with that guy? Was it only for the free meal, did she want to pump him for information, or was she attracted to him? Rail was human; he could do so much more for her than he could. Children. He could really touch her.'  
Xellos was not used to feeling inadequate, but he had to admit to himself that was exactly the way he felt right now. Pacing back and forth he could feel the impressions of Lina in the room, her scent, a faint magical aura and her energy. Xellos suddenly flopped down on the bed, how had he reached this point, not that long ago he would have enjoyed being around someone who felt like he did, meals for days. Being on this side of the suffering was not fun, he almost wished he could shut down these new emotions.  
  
"Where are you, Lina?" he cried out loud. "I need you to help me make sense out of all of this."   
  
Wishing for the relief of tears, he huddled in a corner, looking at the clock in the corner of the room. She wouldn't be long, Lina ate really fast. She'd be back soon. Unless... no, she'd be back soon. She had to be back soon. Any minute now, she'd walk through the door and punch him for being there.... any minute now.  
  
Lina entered the airlock joking with Rail, he was really easy to talk to once you got to know him and remembered to count all your fingers and check your wallet before he left. As she turned down the passage to her room she was confronted by Milly.  
  
"Don't you have a heart?" Milly asked angrily.  
  
"Excuse me," Lina responded in a bewildered voice.  
  
"Poor Xellos has been in a state since you left on you dinner date with Rail. How do you expect him to feel, dumping him to one side like that?" Milly continued, "I mean, here he is away from his home, when the woman he's been sharing a room with takes off with another man. I mean you had to realise that he would be heartbroken."  
  
"Xellos, upset?" Lina thought back to her conversation with Rail. "I have to go to him."  
  
"At the very least, you should be apologising for being so insensitive," Milly added hotly.  
  
"Yes, yes," Lina agreed as she broke into a run as a feeling of foreboding swept over her.  
  
Bursting into her room, she saw Xellos still huddled in the corner.  
  
"Oh, Xellos," she whispered. "No."  
  
"Lina, you're back," she was answered in a broken voice.  
  
  
  
  



	11. Melting - A New Look for Xellos?

Okay folks, things are starting to reach a climax, no pun intended, I would've posted this sooner but you know. I'm currently working on chap 13, so it's going, I've also gotten my word perfect back so I'm able to give you this part in HTML. ^_^

  
  


Chap 11

  
  


Lina stared at the monster crouched on the floor in front of her, her concern turning to alarm as she noticed the blurring of his features.

  
  


"Damn it, Xellos, you're losing control of your form!" she screamed, kneeling down beside him.

  
  


"I can't even do that right," Xellos muttered, lifting up his hand as his fingers fused together in a mitt.

  
  


Lina's mind rushed forward as she reviewed everything she knew about monsters. One of the first things she had learned was that monsters depended on their self confidence, not even being able to draw on the power of others for their spells. Xellos had gained the ability to use the Mother's power when Melee had chosen him, but it was fast becoming obvious that he was still subject to a loss of self with a loss of self confidence.

  
  


"We've been through too much together for me to lose you now, Xel," she muttered. Now what had triggered this, her dinner with Rail, damn, she had bought into his acts never thinking that he might really be hurt, it was only dinner.

"Xellos, tell me what is wrong." Lina shook Xellos to get his attention, much to her alarm, her fingers sank into his shoulder.

  
  


"Wrong, what could be wrong? You need a human man, not me. How could you ever care about something like me? A human man could give you children, really touch you... just go away, and let me suffer in peace."

  
  


As Lina sat back in surprise, Xellos grabbed on to her cape. "No, don't, I'm sorry, don't leave me." Lina noticed, with a growing fear, that Xellos' condition was getting worse.

  
  


"No, Xellos! There's nothing between Rail and me; he's in love with that Neena person. I'm too young for kids. I'm not interested in a human male. Xellos, don't leave me!" Lina screamed at Xellos, noticing that the deterioration of his form had only slowed slightly, she started panicking.

  
  


"Xellos, I need you. I care about you more than anything, but I can't live forever without you at my side." Lina delved deep into her heart and continued, "Xellos, I love you, don't go."

  
  


"No, you don't, not really. You'd be much better off without me complicating your life."

  
  


Lina suppressed an urge to hit Xellos and desperately searched for a way to make him understand; putting one arm around him and the other on her sword, she tried to connect to him through her emotions, pouring out all the feelings that she had kept hidden from both him and herself through the link.

  
  


*flashback*

  
  


The time he had kissed her cheek before Melee and the warm rush of attraction that had filled her.

  
  


*flashback*

  
  


The warmth of his arms when he had held her in the air to shoot Galvera

  
  


*flashback*

  
  


When she had told him the stories of her childhood.

  
  


*flashback*

  
  


The first time they had tried to kiss.

  
  


*flashback*

  
  


The first time they did kiss.

  
  


Lina poured out how much she cared about Xellos, how she depended on him, the overwhelming fear she felt for his well being; everything that she felt was pushed into the link between them.

  
  


Slowly, she felt something responding to her, and a trickle of confusion and pain came back through the link. She sent a soothing wave back as she was pulled into Xellos' pain. Forcing herself not to be overwhelmed, she sent another wave of love and understanding.

  
  


"Oh, Xellos, I do love you, fruitcake," she thought to herself.

  
  


"Do you? Do you really? But I'm not human," a thought from Xellos answered her.

  
  


"Dearest, neither am I anymore, not totally," she answered silently and added, "but I love you."

  
  


Pulling his mind deeper into her own, she showed him how she felt; Xellos responded by linking deeper and then showing her his feelings. "Not gratitude or infatuation, Lina," he told her.

  
  


"Yes, I can see that."

  
  


They sat there on the floor, searching each other's hearts and linking ever deeper until, exhausted, Lina fell asleep, Xellos holding on to her tenderly and returning to his own thoughts. The crisis had been averted and his appearance normal. After stroking her face gently, he lifted her to the bed and lay down beside her, not wanting to be to far from her yet.

  
  


"Lina dear, you are mine and I am yours. That is the way it was meant to be," Xellos thought to himself as he settled into his vigil over her.

  
  


The next morning, Lina woke slowly; the first thing she saw was a pair of violet eyes. Flushing, she resisted the urge to pound him and backed away until the events of the previous night filtered into her sleep logged brain.

  
  


"Is he okay now?" she thought to herself, taking in Xellos' perfect features and grabbing his hand to stare at it, to reassure herself.

  
  


"Perfectly fine, Lina dear." Surprised, she looked at Xellos, his lips hadn't moved, then again, she hadn't said anything out loud either.

  
  


"A little gift from last night," Xellos thought back to her, then laughing, he hugged her. "Thank you, Lina," and shot her a flash of love, mixed with a healthy dose of lust.

  
  


Lina trembled as her body responded to the emotional onslaught, her eyes darkening.

  
  


Xellos looked at her in surprise, then slowly smiled. "Truly a gift," he thought as he felt her arousal. "I think we must explore this further."

  
  


"In the interests of gaining new knowledge, of course," Lina answered with a grin on her face.

  
  


"Of course, what else?" Xellos answered, lowering his face to hers and capturing his lips with hers.

  
  
  
  


Later on, much, much later on, the grinning couple made their way to the control room.

  
  


"About time you guys made it here," Canal grumbled, giving the pair an absent-minded wave. "That ship wrecker is docking in a few minutes. Kain's not back yet."

  
  


"Just got back," Kain answered from the door behind Xellos and Lina. "Would you mind not talking so loudly?"

  
  


Taking in Kain's appearance, Canal snickered. "Bad night last night, Kain? Serves you right after what you did to me, you back stabber." As Canal spoke her voice got louder and louder until Kain cringed.

  
  


"I'm sorry, Canal. Just don't do that," Kain whimpered.

  
  


Canal gave Kain another dirty look and moved back to her keyboard, pointedly giving him a cold shoulder.

  
  


Milly in the mean time, was staring at Xellos and Lina, walking around them and humming and hawing much to the couple's embarrassment. With a final stare, Milly nodded decisively. "It's about time, you two."

  
  


"About time what?" Kain asked in a confused tone, catching Milly's words.

  
  


Milly snorted, "You have to ask? Don't you have eyes in your head? Look at those two; Xellos are in a good mood, Lina has a blush that you could use for a traffic light."

  
  


Kain puzzlement deepened. "But Xellos is always in a good mood, and Lina well, I don't make observations about Lina because it could get me pounded."

  
  


"Forget it, Kain, you have as much romantic spirit as an earthworm," Milly snapped.

  
  


A groan came from Canal, "She's entering the ship. You guys better keep her out of here if you know what's good for you. Just remember that she can fry the environmental controls as fast as anything else."

  
  


"A good point," Milly answered seeing that Kain wasn't processing anything and that Lina and Xellos seemed caught in their own world. "Tell Rail to meet us in the recreation room please, Canal."

  
  


"I guess, better there than here." Canal went back to working at her keyboard. "We're going to be leaving here in ten minutes."

  
  


"Okay, Canal, it's time for me to make breakfast anyway, so come, Lina and you too, Xellos." Milly cheerfully made her exit, ignoring the disgusted look Canal shot her when she mentioned breakfast.

  
  


"I guess we should go, you need to build up your strength, Lina dear," Xellos told Lina telepathically.

  
  


"Me? I think you looked really tired out yourself, but..." Lina answered in the same way, then shouted out loud, "FOOD!" and took off running, dragging Xellos behind her.

  
  


Xellos laughed joyfully. "I'm glad some things never change, Lina."

  
  


"Shut up, you fruitcake, I don't want Kain to eat all the food before we get there."

  
  


"But, Lina, she hasn't even started cooking yet, not that I don't love having you manhandle me, of course."

  
  


"Doesn't matter. It's the principal of the thing."

  
  


As they rushed into the rec room, they were confronted by the sight of Rail sitting there drinking a cup of tea.

  
  


Rail took in the picture of the two. It was obvious from their expressions that they had come to terms with their feelings. That was a relief, he thought, they would be much more effective this way and besides that, he wouldn't have to worry about Xellos ambushing him while he slept.

  
  


"Would either of you like a cup of tea?" Rail asked, gesturing to the pot in front of him.

  
  


Xellos stepped forward to the pot and poured a cup, which he passed to Lina, and then poured one for himself. He gave Rail a hard stare, which left the other man with no doubts that he hadn't been forgiven.

  
  


Rail sighed, this was not going to be easy.

  
  


A loud squeal came from the door as a brown haired girl rushed in, pushing Lina and Xellos to one side. "Lt. Rail are you okay?" she asked as she fell in a heap in front of him.

  
  


"Neena, I'm fine. I have those two, the ones that you just body checked, to thank for it," Rail answered.

  
  


Xellos, who had been trying to stop Lina from hitting the newcomer, was surprised by a sudden hug, which strangled both him and Lina. "Thank you, thank you. I just couldn't go on without my Lt. Rail."

  
  


"No problem...could... you... let go... of us.. now?" Lina got out in a strangled voice. ' Oh no, She's as bad as Amelia.' Lina thought to herself.

  
  


"Oh, sorry!" Neena giggled. "Oh, Lt. Rail, do you need a pillow, you just left the hospital, remember? Here, let me make you some fresh tea."

  
  


Rail smiled as Lina and Xellos watched Neena run around, sweatdrops forming, life was back to normal. Neena was here.

  
  
  
  



	12. Power - The More the Better

  
  
Hi it's been a while I've been updating every thing when I realised that I hadn't put any thing up on ff.net for a while. Here's the next bit.  
  
Power - the more the better  
  
The next day was spent quietly, well as quietly as this group could ever get. Neena fussed over Rail who purposely kept away from the control room. Xellos practised pulling Milly into the astral plane. Kain and Lina experimented with new ways of using magic with the Sword breaker and Canal alternated with being exited about how her firepower was increasing and grumbling about Neena's presence.  
  
"Hey Xel, how's it going?" Lina asked using her new psychic link.  
  
"Pretty well, I can drag her in, I'm working on being selective about what I bring with her now." Xellos sent back.  
  
"Can you take a break? There's something I want to try."  
  
"Okay, Milly wants to start Lunch anyway." Xellos answered and feeling a wave of hunger from Lina added, "She won't be done for a while so don't rush down there."  
  
"Aww, Xel you're no fun." Lina laughed getting a puzzled look from Kain whom was shut out from the conversation. "I want to see if I can draw on your power if I need it."  
  
"Never though of that application to our new found closeness Lina dear, just tell me when."  
  
"When..." Lina began powering up this time reaching out to draw power from Xellos as well. At first Xellos only supplied the barest trickle but then he started pushing it to her, "Slow down I'm having problems controlling this."  
  
Xellos thoughts flowed through the link as well as he bound himself closer to Lina, giving her some of his strength he caught the ragged edges of power where Lina was having problems. A wave of concern hit Lina as she became confused at where Xellos began and she ended. "Don't worry love," she heard. "We can handle this."  
  
Canal gaped at Lina as her monitors started beeping, "That's more power than a final psi code. What is she doing Kain?"  
  
"I have no idea, she told me she wanted to try something different and just started powering up."  
  
"Lina stop! I can't hold much more." Canal screamed.  
  
"Fire the psycho blaster." Kain ordered  
  
"Right that'll use the excess power." Canal worked at the controls for a minute and a shot hit a nearby asteroid destroying it. "Whoa, I'm almost at full charge here again. I'll have to fire a second time." Another asteroid disappeared.  
  
"The power levels are increasing still but slowing down." Canal sighed in relief. "There they've stopped."  
  
Lina shook her head and grinned at Canal and Kain. "Like our new trick?"  
  
"Our new trick?" Kain asked.  
  
"Mine and Xellos." Lina answered smugly.  
  
"Xellos, but he's not here?" Kain looked around as if he expected to see Xellos pop out of the woodwork.  
  
"Doesn't need to be." Lina grinned. "We can combine energies from a distance, we really do have to figure out the range on it though. I think that we'll have to sit down and go over our plans, I've fought too many tough opponents to believe that this will be a cake walk."  
  
"Lina, we're going to blow Darkstar out of the sky." Kain declared happily. Lina shook her head wondering if she had ever been that reckless.  
  
'Of course you were Lina, you've just learnt to back it up with a plan.' Xellos whispered in her mind a he appeared in the control room behind Kain. Then giving Lina a smirk, he learned over towards Kain's ear. "Boo!"   
  
Watching Kain jump into Canal's arms, Xellos chuckled and winked at Canal. "That felt good, I've been being much too nice lately. I really feel like stirring up some trouble."  
  
"Xellos!" Lina gave the offender a quelling look. "Save it for the bad guys, Okay. Now lets all meet in the recreation room, that way we can include Neena." Seeing that Canal was about to spout off again, Lina added. "What she can do to you she can do to another Lost Ship! Canal, get over it."  
  
"Humans, silly messy humans. I really should get rid of this bunch and get some that at least pick up after themselves." Canal grumbled under her breath as she dusted off her controls.  
  
In the recreation room, Lina looked over the group of people who were fighting with her. Not much at first glance but each had some amazing talents to add to the fray. Xellos and she were by far the strongest, but Kain had a hidden core to him that made her think that he could become her equal in magic someday. Milly had given her a marksmanship demonstration that had left her in awe. Lina had always relied on pure power to place her spells but she had always known the value of one small but accurately placed hit, never wanted to admit it, but she had known it.   
  
Rail, now there was an enigma, she liked him but there was something about him, Rail was not telling them all he knew, and Lina had no doubt that he would sacrifice them all without a hesitation or a doubt if it meant keeping humanity safe. She would do the same but she doubted that she would ever be as cold about it. Lina turned her assessing eye to Neena, her face softened as she smiled. There was no mystery to Neena, just a good heart. Lina hoped that Neena would soften Rail's sharp edges in time. Neena did have that startling ability though of shorting out computer systems combined with Rails knowledge of codes, they could possibly do more damage than one would initially guess.   
  
"Okay people, we are all here with one goal in mind destroy Darkstar. The trick is not just beating him but destroying him so he can't come back. Canal and I have both faced him and beaten him so that much can be done."  
  
"Um Lina." Xellos interjected.  
  
"Right Xel was there too and provided a bit of power to me."  
  
"Uh hum." Xellos interjected again.  
  
"Okay Xellos, you and Filia provided the power." Lina shot Xellos a disgusted look at his smirk. The others wielded the Darkstar weapons, Okay." A twitch started above Lina's left eye as she felt the amusement radiating from Xellos.  
  
Kain looked at Xellos and then Lina, "then you are saying that you had nothing to do with the destruction of Darkstar on your world Lina."  
  
Lina turned on Kain, glad to find a target for her anger, "I'm the one that controlled the power and cast the spell. Do you want to see an example of my power control up close?"  
  
Kain backed off quickly, Canal and Milly had taught him the danger of angry women. "Lina, let's just talk about how we're going to fight Darkstar."  
  
"Okay, this is my ideas." Lina told them as she tried to focus on the task at hand.   
  
Later on after the war planning had drawn to a close, Lina sat on the edge of her bed rubbing a knot in her neck, feeling another pair on hands shove hers away she sighed and relaxed. "Do you think we can do it Xel?" she asked.  
  
"Of course, Lina dear. There are a few things that you skipped down there, I noticed."  
  
"Dark Seeder, you mean?" Lina replied enjoying the feeling of the tension draining.  
  
"Of course, Does that mean I can take care of him myself?" Xellos breathed in her ear.  
  
"I'd like to get rid of him before we do anything else actually. Anything we can do to remove some of Darkstar's power before we take him on would help. Kain is too personally involved in this."  
  
Xellos's hands stopped for a moment. "I have to disagree Lina. Kain is too personally involved just to take care of it without him."  
  
Lina shot Xellos a glance from the corner of her eye, trying to keep from moving her now relaxed neck. "Explain Xellos." She demanded.  
  
"Dark Seeder was responsible for the death of his Grandmother, and he was badly beaten when they fought before."  
  
"So all the more reason to take care of this without him." Lina responded.  
  
Xellos shook his head. "If we take care of this without him, he'll always doubt himself, if he can't take care of Darkstar's minion, how can he feel that he can fight Darkstar."  
  
"In other words, if he isn't part of the team that destroys Dark Seeder he won't have the confidence to fight at full strength is that what you're saying?"  
  
"Exactly, Lina dear. And worse if I pull him into the astral plane without his sword, Kain won't use his."  
  
Lina shot Xellos an incredulous glance.  
  
"Just one of those human male idiosyncrasies, honour in battle. Don't worry Lina dear, I have no such compunctions. I'll take any advantage I can, but then I'm not a young human male am I."  
  
Lina gave Xellos a hard look. "Just don't drift back into old patterns."  
  
"This is a totally new pattern, before I'd take chances to enjoy the meal, now, without that reason, I have no need to be any thing but safe. Besides with the fun I have with you around, I don't want to miss out on any of the excitement.   
  
Lina smiled at Xellos. "Good answer, now how are you going to set up this fight."  
  
"This will be the one and only time I say this but I miss that dumb blond friend of yours."   
  
"Gourry, why?"  
  
"Mostly because he could train that young fool Kain with that sword of his. Neither of us are too shabby with the sword, but I saw the way that Dark Seeder guy was using his and he outclasses both of us, the only one I know that is close is Gourry."  
  
"Xellos you do have a point, but Kain isn't bad with his sword, he just lacks confidence. Dark Seeder attacked him psychically with a fear spell when they were fighting. With no defence against that he couldn't fight well."  
  
Xellos nodded, "Okay so our first order of business is to teach Kain to protect himself from psychic attacks. Then we find Dark Seeder, pull him into the astral plane and destroy him. I would feel better if we could find a way to give him some sword practice with a master."  
  
"So we ask Canal for some advice, if she's talking to us messy humans again." Lina smiled. "Now how do we use that comm thing again?"  
  
  
  
  



	13. Enter - The Sword Master?!

I hold no responsibility for the new arrival, he showed up and wouldn't go away, I tried to get rid of him, I really did, but he just wouldn't go away. *Sob*, I tried, really, I didn't want him there. He wasn't planned but he opened his mouth and... and those words came out... *pulls out hair* "go away bug some other fic!" I said, but no. I've tried poisoning him, dragon slaving him, running him through with the psi-blade, but he just won't die. Forgive me, I am not doing a multi-crossover, just this one idiot who I swear will not survive. 

Chapter 13 

Enter - The Sword Master 

"Okay, Lina what's up with you and Xellos?" Canal asked, pushing her mane of blue hair back. "You seem more connected lately." 

Lina sighed and thought for a moment before answering. "We are more connected. We've had a rudimentary link with each other through our artefacts since our choosing but it took a lot of effort. Due to various factors," Lina blushed and looked away, "it's become deeper and more instinctive. If I wanted to I could tell where Xellos is, what he's doing, and how he's feeling at any time of the day." 

Lina walked over to the view port and stared out and thought of the differences between her world and this one. She missed home; she missed magic that she was used to using, darn it all, she even missed Amelia's speeches and Gourry's stupid comments. Shaking herself, she turned back towards Canal. 

"Kain needs a sword instructor. Does that data base that you're always bragging about have any listed?" 

"Just a minute, let me check." Canal's eyes turned inward. "There is a fellow in this system. His students list him as very eccentric, but he's one of the top swordsmen in the galaxy." 

Lina smiled. "Eccentric is the norm for our little band, he won't be out of place." 

"That's true, a normal person would run screaming as soon as they met us, let me confirm the course change with Kain.... Okay here we go." 

"Just out of curiosity, did you tell Kain why we were going someplace new?" 

"Naw, that's no fun, especially if half of what those students said is true," Canal responded, pointing to a monitor. 

Lina sat down and started reading; soon, her laughter filled the control room making Canal shudder, not realising that the laugh Lina is emitting is a pale shadow of the laughter that the victims of Naga the White Serpent had to endure. 

Elsewhere on the ship, a pair of purple eyes looked toward the control room and smiled wickedly, this swordsman seemed very familiar. 

"Well, Rail, life is about to become very interesting around here." Xellos smirked at his companions as he passed over a cup of tea. 

"You don't say," Rail responded, taking the cup of tea. "Interesting for who in particular?" 

"Well for us of course, however, I don't think Kain will enjoy it all." 

Taking a sip, Rail put down his cup. "But, will it be a learning experience?" 

"In more ways than one," Xellos answered. 

"In more ways than... what are you talking about?" a voice asked from the doorway. 

"Just chatting. Kain, are you all done with your session with Lina?" Rail asked. 

Kain nodded. "A while ago, Canal wants to set down and refuel." He shrugged. "I guess she wants to make sure we have plenty of reserves in case we have to fight." 

"Very smart individual that Canal, don't you think so, Rail?" Xellos blinked, trying to keep a straight face. 

"She is the top ship's AI in existence," Rail answered. "You should be proud of her, Kain." 

Kain looked at the pair suspiciously. "Are you two up to something?" 

"Us? Of course not," Rail replied. 

Xellos echoed Rail's denial then added, "Is that Milly's cooking I smell? I hope we can get there before Lina." 

Kain paled. "I haven't had a decent meal for days, I gotta go." He ran off leaving a snickering pair behind him. 

The arrival in port was a quiet one; checks were routine, the officials boringly official. Milly completed her shopping without a hitch; even the daily kitchen explosion was smaller than usual. No one even noticed Lina and Canal quietly leaving the ship; if they had, the manic looks on their faces would have quickly warned the strongest individual to flee quickly. 

Stepping over an unidentifiable piece of refuse, Lina looked at her surroundings. She had seen the worst her world had to offer from slums to bandit hideouts, however, the sheer poverty and hopelessness of her current surrounding appalled her. Gasping when the refuse moved and showed itself to be a ragged old man with glazed eyes and spittle oozing down his chin, she began to wonder if Canal had the right locale. 

"Here we go, this is the address," Canal announced. 

"Are you sure? This doesn't seem the right type of place for what we're looking for." Lina looked at Canal warily. 

"You'd be surprised." Canal touched a panel by the door. "Excuse me sir, are you in there? We'd like to discuss business with you." 

"Business, what business, what is filthy lucre when compared to my art? But, hark, is it not the dulcet tones of two young maidens which reaches mine ears. I must see if the beauty of thy voices is matched by an equal beauty of visage." 

Lina turned to Canal and shrugged. "You did say that he was eccentric and I think the file did mention archaic speech patterns." 

"You have to expect some differences, he is the greatest swordsman in galaxy. Remember Milly," Canal answered. 

The door panel crackled and a buzz announced that the door was unlocked. With a quick glance at each other, the pair entered the residence halting in the entrance in shock at the sheer opulence of their new surroundings. The entranceway spread out in front of them, the spacious floor covered with real wool embroidered carpets and precious paintings drew their eyes to the walls. 

A small man dressed entirely in black bowed in front of them, coming out of now where. "If you would please follow me, the master awaits in the salle." 

As the women followed the little man, the opulence of their surroundings continued to amaze them. The aesthetic starkness of the exercise salle came as a further shock contributing to a growing feeling of dislocation. A small noise brought their attention to the other side of the room where a tall man with wavy hair knelt in meditation. His dress was an archaic kempo uniform and across his knees lay a wooden bokken. Bowing deeply to the shrine, the young man stood, took a step back and then turned towards Lina and Canal. 

"Mine ears did not deceive me, thy beauty is a radiance which outshines the sun. A scarlet tressed goddess, whose fire warms my soul, and a buxom blue haired beauty, whose eyes holds the turbulence of the sea. The fates have indeed been kind to me this day." 

"Yeah right. This is all very flattering but as our message earlier stated, we are here to see you about instructing my apprentice in sword techniques," Lina told the young man, a flush rising unbidden to her cheeks. 

" Thou wishes for me to accompany both of you fair maidens on a voyage through space. Verily, if thou wishes my company, thy request is all that is required. . However, I can understand that maidenly modesty bids thee to fabricate an excuse to obtain my august company, so I will accede to thy requests and accompany my fire goddess and my sea green maiden." 

Lina's right eye began twitching and she shot an admonishment to the laughing voice she heard in the background. "Fine, meet us at the Swordbreaker as soon as you're ready." 

"No need for that, my fire goddess. My manservant will address all the minor details. Beauty such as evidence by thy fair selves should not roam unescorted. Who know which foul demons lay in wait for a defenceless pair of fair innocent young maidens such as thyselves." 

"Now, my sweet visions of loveliness, let us depart for thy proud vessel where I shall let thine eyes bask in the radiance of my regard." 

In an aside, Lina whispered quietly to Canal, "I'm not sure if I'm finding this flattering or if I should just fireball him out of his misery." 

"I know what you mean, I think we should just leave him to the guys to handle. It's bad enough that I have all you messy humans on my nice clean ship but I keep on reminding myself that I need all of you to get rid of Darkstar. Though once Darkstar is gone, I'm cleaning house." Canal smiled to show that she wasn't totally serious. 

The trip back to the ship was completed quickly. The swordsman had grabbed Lina and Canal's hands and proceeded to regale them with tales of his ancestors' exploits. While Canal had put her consciousness on autopilot and checked the status of the ship's repairs, Lina did not have the same luxury and had to suffer through the recitation of obviously false accounts of his and his ancestors' prowess. The continuing laughter that she felt in the back of her mind was not helping much. 

Entering the ship, Canal quickly excused herself and ran to the control room, leaving Lina to the amorous swordsman. "Xellos, get here with Kain and get this idiot away from me!" she screamed telepathically to the monster. 

"Don't worry, we're on our way already," she was answered. 

Wiggling her way out of another attempted glomp, Lina breathed a sigh of relief when the hatchway opened and threw herself at Xellos, grabbing his arm and hiding behind him. "Kain, this is your new sword instructor," she babbled quickly at the wide-eyed youth. 

"You knave, what is thy connection to my scarlet haired goddess?" demanded the swordsman, glaring at Xellos. 

Xellos smirked. "Oh this and that, and a few other things. Eh Lina-dear?" 

"You besmircher of innocent young maidens! I, Tatewaki Kuno the 23rd,the pinnacle of a long line of renowned Kuno swordsmen, renowned throughout the galaxy as the undefeated Kendo Champion and the Blue Thunder of the Crab Nebula, do hereby challenge you to combat for the hand of the fair scarlet tressed goddess." 

"Umm, Lina, did I besmirch your innocence?" 

"Oh, you most surely did." 

"Then, should I fight him?" 

"Only if you want to." 

"Not really. Sorry Lad, but I'm too busy at the moment, get back to my secretary later," Xellos told Kuno (the 23rd). 

With a cry of rage, Kuno raised his bokken only to be bounced back as Xellos raised a shielding spell. 

"You foul sorcerer, I will free the maiden from thy evil spells!" Kuno shouted as he hit the shield over and over again trying in vain to find a weakness in the barrier. 

"Listen, Kuno, I am not the sorcerer here, Lina is. I'm just a monster." 

"You admit your depravity and attempt to include my goddess in your perversions." 

"Tut, tut, tut okay one more try. Lina is the sorceress, I'm the monster, and Canal is the closest to qualifying for the title of goddess." Xellos smiled and wagged his index finger at Kuno. "Lina dear, this is the most fun I've had in ages but I have to go, bye now and have fun." 

As Xellos dematerialised, Kuno shouted out futilely in rage. "Coward, leaving the field of battle so abruptly." 

Lina sighed and shook her head. "Mister Kuno, this is your student Kain. He is a wielder of the psi blade and needs instruction in swordsmanship." 

The swordsman looked at the blade in a disparaging manner. "A psi blade. Nice trinket, it doesn't match the beauty of wielding steal but it should be adequate." 

Kain flushed in anger. "Listen buddy..." 

"Sensei, you will address me as sensei during thy period of instruction. Draw your blade." 

Kain drew his blade and powered it up. 

"Now attack me. Come on boy, I am Tatewaki Kuno the 23rd, the pinnacle of a long line of renowned Kuno swordsmen, renowned throughout the galaxy as the undefeated Kendo Champion and the blue Thunder of the Crab Nebula. I have dealt with psi blades before." 

"If that's what you want." Kain shrugged and attacked the long-winded swordsman only to find his blade blocked by the wooden bokken. Kain blinked in surprise only to find his blade blocked again and again, taking a step back he stared at the wooden blade, noticing a blue tinge that had not been there before. "What is going on? Nothing can stop a psi blade." 

"Fool, your psi blade uses the power of the mind, a skill that is inborn. I, however, use the strength of my heart and spirit, that which the ancients used to call Chi energy. After being defeated by a vile demon for the hand of his loves, the first Tatewaki Kuno spent many years trying to find a way to defeat the vile sorcerer. He developed this method of fighting, which has been passed down through the generations, with each practitioner becoming stronger, finally culminating in the excellence which I display for your edification." 

"What happened to the vile sorcerer?" Lina asked quizzically. 

"Ah, my scarlet tressed goddess, the sorcerer, well my revered ancestress, the one called Marika the nimble, bade my father to remain close to her as she felt that the sorcerer would, in his cowardly way, take advantage of my forefather's absence to steal her away and add her to his infernal harem. Alas, one of the maidens was enslaved to the sorcerer and was forced to bear his children; the other disappeared after a peculiar accident with some cursed water. A very sad tale but fear not my beauty, I will persevere where my ancestor lost hope, and I will free you from the sorcerer Xellos. " 

"Did it ever occur to you that I would not want to be free of Xellos?" asked Lina, the twitch returning to her eyebrow. 

"That is part of his vile enchantment." The young man rushed forward, ignoring Kain and swept Lina into his arms. "Fear not, a frail weak maiden such as yourself should not have to defend herself. I will protect and care for you as a true samurai protects all that are weaker than them. I can see it now, our happy home with you and the sea eyed maiden bearing the next generation of Kuno warriors." 

Kain seeing the look in Lina's eyes, frantically backed up and chanted the barrier spell that Lina had taught him, desperately hoping that he got it right. 

FIRE BALL! 

"Weak, I don't think so. Just be glad I can't do the Dragon slave!" Lina yelled as she left the area stomping her feet angrily. 

Kain walked over, pushed at the pile of cinders experimentally and jumped as a voice emerged. 

"She be little but she be fierce." 


End file.
